The Eve of Saint Venus

by Thomas Derdak

The Eve of Saint Venus
A comedy in three acts.

Written as a novella by Anthony Burgess
Adapted for the stage
With original poetry
By
Thomas Derdak
(I have the rights from Burgess's Estate to Produce the Play)

There will be a reading of the play at Chicago Dramatists on Monday, March 9, 2020

Synopsis

The play has been written to highlight the range of acting ability in female characters. There are roles...

The Eve of Saint Venus
A comedy in three acts.

Written as a novella by Anthony Burgess
Adapted for the stage
With original poetry
By
Thomas Derdak
(I have the rights from Burgess's Estate to Produce the Play)

There will be a reading of the play at Chicago Dramatists on Monday, March 9, 2020

Synopsis

The play has been written to highlight the range of acting ability in female characters. There are roles for eight women in the play.

Venus, the goddess of love, finds herself on an English estate in the middle of plans for a wedding. Bored and restless on a holiday with her other Olympian gods, she hasn’t been in love for at least a millennium. So when she first sees Ambrose, the bridegroom, her desire explodes and she does everything in her power to undermine plans for the weddings between the bridegroom and his fiancé Diana. In rhyming heroic couplets (all the gods speak in heroic couplets), Venus manipulates Julia, Diana’s gay bridesmaid, in developing a rift between the engaged couple. And she even contrives to take Diane’s wedding ring for herself. Yet what Venus has decided to do creates turmoil in the realm of the gods as well since she’s broken the agreement made between the Christian god and the Olympians.

Nothing seems to prevent Venus from her love of and marriage to Ambrose. Even when the best man and the local Vicar attempt to exorcise Venus and her influence on Ambrose, she thwarts them. Yet Venus has gone too far in her interference of human affairs and the Olympian gods appear for a showdown. A heated argument ensues (in rhyming heroic couplets), in which the Olympian gods fear that her actions will bring about another war with the Christian god, which the Olympians lost the first time. But Venus is adamant in her desire for Ambrose. Finally, Athena (the goddess of wisdom) convinces Venus to consider one of the Christian Archangels as a more suitable and appropriate love interest – he has big wings. Venus relents and agrees to give Ambrose back to Diana. Thus the turmoil has ended – reason and passion are in balance once again - and harmony in both heaven and on earth is restored.

Venus and the gods leave and everything returns to normal – except for the ring. Where is Diana’s wedding ring? When all hope is lost in retrieving the ring Spatchcock, the housemaid, appears and explains that a dove with the wedding ring tied around its neck with a lock of hair appeared at her window sill, and she thought this might be the ring that was missing.

A play about the relation and balance between passion and reason, it has a little Shakespeare, Moliere, and the Marx Brothers.

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The Eve of Saint Venus

Cast Breakdown

The play has been written to highlight the range of acting ability in female characters. There are roles for eight women in the play.

Venus: the main character. She is the goddess of love, a mysterious force from another world with an all too human heart and feelings of desire. She is mischievous and erotic, playful and petulant, willful yet genuinely warm, engaging, and heartfelt. Her power comes from loving. A physically demanding role, which also requires excellent language skills, she moves with confidence and grace in her body.

Spatchcock: the housemaid. Short and mousy-looking, with a heavy accent, she is devoted to her work and the family she serves, though not without speaking her mind.

Sir Benjamin: father of the bride. He is crusty and craggy, likes what he likes and distains what he doesn’t. He is literary in his language and especially so when he is insulting someone, yet when doing so he is humorous and never mean-spirited. Food and wine are essential to his love of life and he loves life with gusto and verve, but mostly he loves the past and everything about it.

Lady Drayton: Sir Benjamin’s wife and mother of the bride. Well-mannered and elegant, she is insightful and knowing. A lifetime of living with Sir Ben has taught her patience and tolerance for the vicissitudes of life, both small and large.

Julia: the bridesmaid. She is a gay professional woman, sleek, tall, chic and sophisticated. She dresses exquisitely and follows the most recent haute couture in London and Paris. A success in the world of publishing, she is assertive and knows what she wants and how to get it. Worldly and intelligent, she is a strong presence in any room or at any event.

Jack Crother-Mason: the bridegroom’s best man and best friend. A politician who breaks the stereotypical mold – although he is ambitious, charming and well-spoken, he is good-hearted, a good listener, willing to compromise and sympathetic to the plight of others. He is protective of Ambrose whom he has known since they were both young boys.

Ambrose: the bridegroom. Innocent, naïve, and impressionable, he is flush with excitement over his impending marriage. He is ordinary looking, has an ordinary career and ordinary life, and he knows it. Yet there is a percolating passion, eloquence, and assertiveness beneath his ordinary exterior that is revealed involuntarily through Venus.

Diana: the bride. Innocent, naïve, and impressionable, she is also smart, cute, and ordinary looking, and is particularly well-matched to marry Ambrose. At the same time, she greatly admires Julia, and has pretensions to the world – including the fashion, worldliness, and sophistication – within which Julia is so comfortably situated.

Nanny: Diana’s nanny. A motherly and nurturing woman with a robust and undiminished appetite for men and sex.

The Vicar: the local parish vicar. Formal, stuffy and somewhat pompous, he loves to listen to the words of his own voice. A defender of and relentless fighter on behalf of Christianity, he is convinced of the righteousness of his own religion.

Jupiter: leader of the Olympian gods. (Also played by Lady Drayton) He was king of the gods and the main deity in Roman Mythology until Christianity took over. The guardian of solemn oaths, agreements and covenants. Proud, authoritative, ruler of the sky, he used lightning and thunderbolts to exert his power and influence. But those days are past and he is committed to the agreement with the Christian god.

Mars: god of war. (Also played by Julia Webb) Son of Jupiter, lover of violence and the thrill of blood, chaos and noise in battle. Condescending and vainglorious, embarrassed by his lost to the Christian army two millennia ago, he is solely concerned that his reputation not be further sullied.

Cupid: god of love. (Also played by Spatchcock) The son of Venus and faithful to his mother in all her desire and romantic machinations.

Athena: goddess of wisdom, civilization and justice. (Also played by Nanny) The embodiment of practical wisdom and balanced judgment, she is known for her compassion, generosity and diplomatic skill. Yet can also be ruthless as an adversary.