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Category Archives: Countess Bathory
St. Crispin’s Day: Bathory, Hapsbergs, Hamlet, Prince Caspian, and Henry V
It’s St. Crispin’s Day! Below is a reprint of a blog I wrote about Countess Bathory, last year. Among other things, it details Crispin’s Day’s influence on the creation of the play. ********** Act 2, Scene 2 of Countess Bathory is the … Continue reading
Bathory: Elizabeth, and the Courage of our Convictions
As we all learned in high school (or earlier, if you’re lucky), a Tragedy is defined by its subject’s Fall, or reversal of fortune (or peripeteia, for the vocab buffs). The ancient Romans (and to be fair, Shakespeare himself) seemed to … Continue reading
Bathory: Deception in a Face
A lot happens in Act 4, Scene 2 of Countess Bathory. The playwright (me) perhaps demands a bit much of the audience by introducing a new character in the second-to-last scene, but in Katalin we see the thesis of the … Continue reading
Bathory: What tokens, Lord, what signs of her Affection
For the vast majority of Countess Bathory, servants are either treated with scorn or ignored altogether. This is especially true of Helena Jo, who receives absent-minded rebukes more than anything else from Elizabeth. In Act 4, Scene 2, Helena has … Continue reading
Bathory Buddies: Justin Verstraete
Justin plays Johnno, a servant who is unceremoniously conscripted into service as Count Nadasdy’s standard bearer, where it turns out he’s unusually gifted in combat despite his low birth (at least in our production). Like Jane Maridova, the role of … Continue reading
Bathory: Hapsbergs, Hamlet, Prince Caspian, and King Henry V
Act 2, Scene 2 of Countess Bathory is the longest scene in the play (just like 2.2 in Hamlet). It features several interludes that allow Elizabeth to display more varied aspects of her personality (again, like Hamlet). She spends a … Continue reading
Bathory: Kate, and the Illusion of Opportunity
In Act I Scene I of Countess Bathory, Kate is a young servant with a lovely voice, who is ordered to sing at Elizabeth’s wedding (and happy to do so). A single thoughtless statement from the wrong person at the wrong time … Continue reading
Bathory Buddies: Joshua Carroll
Joshua Carroll plays King Matthias II, a manipulative monarch who hides his monetary motivations behind a skein of moral indignation. Matthias had been written as a cunning and confident manipulator, comfortable in his physical and social (and religious) power. It … Continue reading
Bathory Buddies: Juliana Brecher
Juliana Brecher was our final addition to the Countess Bathory cast. Among other roles, she plays the unfortunately fated and unfortunately named Susannah Woodseam. Perhaps one of the most common and most immature forms of bullying is name-calling and name-mockery. … Continue reading
Bathory: Nadasdy and Reputation, Reputation
In three of his four scenes in Countess Bathory, Count Ferenc de Nadasdy (Elizabeth Bathory’s husband) begins by presenting himself as a romantic knight: he speaks of love more than anything else, and presents both a charming exterior and an intense … Continue reading