The Belle's Stratagem

We went last night to see the local university's production of The Belle's Stratagem, a comedy of manners by the little-known 18th century female playwright Hannah Cowley. I'm hardly a theater critic, so I won't discuss the relevance of proper behavior in the 1780s as it relates to modern audiences. Nonetheless, the play was fun, once you got past the dated language & whatnot. Our friend Miriam played Mrs. Racket, the lusty widow -- one of the two totally over-the-top supporting characters (along with the effete gossip Flutter.) The two of them got all the good business -- Mrs. Racket made her entrance with her little dog... (actually the director's dog, it's a trembly Pomeranian-Chihuahua type thing & so docile that it will allow itself to be slung all about the stage with nary a bark)... but between the smallness of the dog & the uh, ampleness of Miriam's corset, she was actually carrying the creature in her cleavage. The costumes were a little bizarre; they were supposed to be "period shapes in modern fabrics", all sheer skirts & hoops; but they ended up just looking like everyone was wearing underwear onstage. My only gripe with the production... otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable evening.