Video Performance: Unbecoming

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The Program in Theater presents the first fully-staged production of Unbecoming, a play by Princeton theater alumna Emma Watkins ’18.

Lady Charlotte Guest is a Victorian housewife and mother of seven. Much to her husband’s dismay, she aspires to become the first person to translate the Mabinogion — a collection of ancient Welsh stories — into English. Through her translation, she encounters Blodeuwedd, a woman conjured from flowers as a wife for her creator and punished for her infidelity. As Charlotte struggles to reconcile her creative ambitions with 19th-century expectations of marriage and motherhood, she must also confront the power and responsibility she holds in retelling Blodeuwedd’s story.

Performed by a cast of six in a unique outdoor setting and presented as a filmed theatrical production, Unbecoming serves as a senior thesis for Paige Allen (dramaturg, Charlotte) and Eliana Cohen-Orth (director, Wife of England/Gwydion).

In order to follow COVID-19 precautions and social distancing, the cast of Unbecoming quarantined together for the fall semester. The performance was recorded without a live audience, and all interactions with the production team outside of the pod of performers are occurring in a remote or socially distanced fashion.

To learn more about the context for and insights into Unbecoming, including historical information, interviews with the creative team, and glimpses into the process of building this unique production, visit the dramaturgical home for the play (link is external).

Discover cast and production credits in the show program for Unbecoming »

How did the cast of Unbecoming make a filmed theater production in a pandemic? Watch the conversations with director Eliana Cohen-Orth, technical director and video editor Adam Olkin, playwright Emma Watkins, scholar Sioned Davies and other members of the cast and crew to find out.