1863-project-art:OC-tober: Day 25Steph Bases Some Of Her Characters On Double Acts: Mildred Shawe an

1863-project-art:OC-tober: Day 25Steph Bases Some Of Her Characters On Double Acts: Mildred Shawe and Amphilis Thornburgh, The World Turned Upside DownAs I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I looked to the world of alternative comedy from the early 1980s to work with the cast of The World Turned Upside Down, and it just slotted into the world perfectly. So it was pretty much a given I’d have characters inspired by arguably the greatest all-female double act of all time since they got their start in the alternative scene way back when. No, seriously, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are on another level and I can’t even begin to talk about how important they are to the history of women in comedy. They made so much possible for so many women performing now. And I definitely had that in mind with these two when I was first developing them.Amphilis’s parents allowed her to perform in masques within their home as she got older, and she made sure that Mildred was included in this, as well, since when they were younger they would parody what they saw the adults doing and make their own, sillier versions of the shows. If the war hadn’t broken out, Amphy and Mildred would have almost definitely pushed for women to appear on the public stage more regularly - although there were no laws against this in England, the precedent for all-male companies was very strong. (Visiting commedia dell’arte troupes generally did include women as performers, and women acted with regularity on the continent.) Since there was a war, Amphilis and Mildred ended up being trailblazers in an entirely different way - it’s clear that they’re the ones in charge of the operation, more or less, and they’re also making the same sorts of jokes that everyone else around them is. (Mildred notably relays an anecdote at one point where she reveals the original four Lords of Misrule evaded capture because she pretended to be a Puritan woman having an extramarital affair in the middle of sex to deter their pursuers from coming into the building they were hiding in.) It’s important to the narrative that Amphilis and Mildred are doing pretty much exactly what the boys are, and doing it just as well, and they’re taking advantage of the society crumbling around them to prove themselves. The world is topsy-turvy and therefore full of opportunity. Time to take action.Perhaps most importantly is that Aibhilin, who meets them when she’s twelve years old, sees Amphilis and Mildred doing what they’re doing. She’s watching these brave, confident women break the mold of society and fight for what they believe in to make the world a better place, and she’s outright inspired. She realizes that she can do it too the moment she sees them and realizes they’re women for the first time, and it completely changes her outlook on things. From that point on, she realizes that nobody can tell her what she can and can’t do, and for the first time she’s fully surrounded by people who will encourage that in her instead of telling her to knock it off. Just like the double act they’re based on, Amphilis and Mildred’s presence is hugely important for a number of young girls, and each one who sees them thinks about her role in the world and how she might just challenge what people have told her she has to be. -- source link
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