WATCH NOW
Watch the live recording of Unbecoming on the VIDEO PERFORMANCE page. The video is available to stream on-demand through January 31, 2021.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS
On Saturday, January 16, at 9:45 p.m. after the evening show, join us for a live audience talkback discussion with director Eliana Cohen-Orth, technical director and video editor Adam Olkin, and other members of the team about the process of making this unique filmed theatre piece in pandemic conditions.
On Sunday, January 17, at 3:45 p.m. (EST) after the afternoon show, join us for a live audience talkback discussion with playwright Emma Watkins and scholar Sioned Davies to discuss the Mabinogion, Charlotte Guest, and the arts of translation and adaptation. Davies is the former Chair of Welsh at Cardiff University and the first woman to translate the Mabinogion since Charlotte Guest.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Watch the trailer for Unbecoming.
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).
ACCESSIBILITY
The film will be closed captioned and the conversations will be live captioned. If you are in need of other access accommodations in order to participate in this event, please contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least 2 weeks in advance of the event date.
SPECIAL SHOW NOTES
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.
DRAMATURGY BEHIND THE PRODUCTION
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 »
