The digital programme for this event is now available.
The most famous French medieval play but not widely known in the UK, Master Pierre Pathelin breaks the farce mould. Is Pierre a lawyer or not? Even his wife doubts him at first… but he’s a canny one, out to cheat Guillaume the cloth merchant out of his wares through an elaborate scheme. Guillaume is no angel: he’s cheated his shepherd, Thibault Aignelet, out of wages, as Aignelet has made lunch of some of Guillaume’s sheep. When Pierre gets roped into defending Aignelet in court, chaos reigns, and it’s not always the obvious winner who comes out on top!
A more typical French farce of the period, The Washtub finds Jaquinot and Jaquinette, a recently married couple, at loggerheads over who is responsible for what aspects of their daily life. Jaquinette has the backup of her formidable mother, and Jaquinot may not be the cleverest of lads… or is he? The couple draw up a legal contract for Jaquinot’s chores, but when Jaquinette accidentally falls into the enormous washtub where she’s doing laundry, Jaquinot discovers a loophole in the women’s carefully drawn honey-do list. Slapstick and silly, even as a reading, this family gives a sense of what marital comedy was in the late fifteenth century.
We’re presenting the medieval French Farces Master Pierre Pathelin & The Washtub as an informal reading in one of York’s historic pubs.
This will be a laid-back, fun, and free, event for anyone with an interest in comedy, medieval drama, theatre, or even none of the above!
Anyone who is interested in taking part should sign up and, nearer the date, we’ll send scripts along for you to read, so you can get familiar with the plays. We won’t be auditioning. We won’t be pre-casting. We’ll gather for a couple of hours before the performance to read together, to assign parts, and hopefully have a good laugh. We’ll also be taking drop-ins on the day, for both participants and audience- if you can’t get in touch with us ahead of time, we’ll still be happy to hand you a script so you can take part! (Please note that, while we believe this event is suitable for most ages, anyone under 16 wishing to participate will need to be accompanied by an adult, and material may not be appropriate for young children.)
Then, when an audience has gathered at the set time, we’ll perform the reading, with our scripts, for their entertainment as well as our own! Hopefully it’ll be a good laugh for everyone, and a chance to get to know some very funny plays that aren’t especially familiar to an English speaking audience. (In case you are worried, we will be reading English translations so you won’t be expected to tackle Medieval French!)
Tickets- did we mention it’s FREE, by the way!- are available via Eventbrite. Please sign up there to be either a participant or an audience member, and get in touch with us if you have any questions.
Participants should join us at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PR at 17.00 on Saturday 9th May; we’ll be meeting upstairs. Scripts will be emailed to those who sign up in advance; we encourage you to bring along a tablet to read from digitally, or you can print a copy in your preferred format. We will have a few printed copies available on the day for walk-ups and anyone unable to make their own arrangements.
Audience are invited to arrive for a 20.00 start at the same location.
Drinks will be available at the bar.
HIDden Theatre 