{"id":4048,"date":"2016-06-24T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/?p=4048"},"modified":"2016-10-18T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T20:25:39","slug":"bathory-thou-art-deception-in-a-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/?p=4048","title":{"rendered":"Bathory: Deception in a Face"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""But

“But man \/ Make me not this fallen Race, so like th’Divine \/ In Form, so like Levaithan in Action.” Sarah Liz Bell as Katalin. Lighting by Benjamin Dionysus. Costumes by Delena Bradley. Photo by iNDie Grant Productions<\/p><\/div>\n

A lot happens in Act 4, Scene 2 of Countess Bathory<\/em>. 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 play in little. Aside from representing the continuance of the cycle of abuse, Katalin has two monologs, both of which describe the deceptive nature of appearances. In essence, she says not all ugly things are evil and not all beautiful things are good. It’s a message we hear all the time, but I feel that we (me especially) still need to hear, over and over.<\/p>\n

“O wretch, thou art deception in a face,
\nFor thy foul form did make me think a Devil
\nOf thee, but kindness like the holy Angels
\nFonts out from hideous accoutrements.
\nA Pearl is hous\u2019d in hard ridg\u2019d shells, that time
\nAnd muscle must prize out, and so thy Soul,
\nAs shining as the glorious Sun, is prized
\nWithout the hard exterior tonight.”<\/p>\n

This speech is also one of several times that Kate’s face is compared to rock, shell, and other solid things. While this can be an obvious commentary on the scabs and scars on her face, it is also an appropriate description of the character who most often keeps her thoughts to herself.<\/p>\n

But Katalin doesn’t just remark on the dulpicity of beauty: she asks to be excused<\/em> from a world where such dishonesty thrives. Not only is the most powerful and most beautiful woman in the world the seat of evil, but the King himself seems blithely unconcerned about her actions. Katalin asks God (or whoever will listen) to remove her from the human race, the only species that can choose mercy and yet so consistently does not.<\/p>\n

“Devils! Devils! Devils! Devils! Devils!
\nWhat craggy and ensmoldered world is this
\nThat birth and thriveth such Monstrosities?
\nWhat King will take my will away for her
\nWho here perverts the Nature of our land,
\nAnd turneth full luxurious against
\nA Woman\u2019s ken? What creature bathes in blood?
\nWhat Parasite would feed upon her kin?
\nThe Tiger\u2019s dam will not consume her litter,
\nBut what the lowest Beasts will not dare do,
\nShe doth. Our King permits. Our King permits.
\nO Lord make me a weavil that bores into
\nThe flesh of innocents. Make me a Wolf
\nThat overpowers and devours the Lamb,
\nOr any wicked thing that Nature proves,
\nAnd I would call thee generous. But man,
\nMake me not this fallen Race, so like th\u2019 Divine
\nIn Form, so like Leviathan in Action.
\nO make me not Mankind, o Lord, and I
\nWill count my blessings greater than the Sky.”<\/p>\n

After failing to give Katalin what she wants, Kate elects to go one further and actively escape the “civil jungle” of Hungary with her heart-rending “Kill my dreams” speech.<\/p>\n

COUNTESS BATHORY is back, tonight and tomorrow.\u00a0Reservations are full, but walkups are welcome.<\/p>\n

June 9 \u2013 25<\/strong>
\nThursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30pm<\/strong>
\n4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 405<\/strong>
\nALL SEATS ARE FREE<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,28,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-countess-bathory","category-playwright","category-theater-stuff"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9u111-13i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4048"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4090,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048\/revisions\/4090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}