NOTE: The articles in these study guides are not meant to mirror or interpret any particular productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. They are meant, instead, to be an educational jumping-off point to understanding and enjoying the play (in any production at any theatre) a bit more thoroughly. Therefore the stories of the plays and the interpretative articles (and even characters at times) may differ from what is ultimately produced on stage.
Also, some of these articles (especially the synopses) reveal the ending and other “surprises” in some plays. If you don’t want to know this information before seeing the plays, you may want to reconsider studying this information.
By Ivy L Barton
During the Second World War, American society experienced dramatic changes that shifted social roles and long-established hierarchies. With a country and world experiencing the turmoil of war, every citizen was expected to contribute to the war effort. Women’s roles in society and the household were deeply affected. Women who had never been formally employed or experienced financial responsibilities found themselves left alone to take care of their households. George Brant’s Into the Breeches centers on a group of women struggling to establish and embrace their new roles and responsibilities during this tumultuous period in history.
Viewing the war through the lenses of a theater company offers a unique perspective on American citizens who directly experienced the impact. When her husband Andrew is deployed overseas, our main character Maggie Dalton is left alone to run the Oberon Play House. Though Maggie and Andrew had spent years collaborating on decisions and direction for the Oberon, Andrew had always been the one to deliver the messaging and instructions to the company. Maggie is even referred to, as “Andrew’s Parrot.” Yet, with Andrew and many of the male company members overseas fighting, Maggie is tasked with putting on a production of Henry IV and Henry V without their help. She determines the best plan of attack is to produce the Henriad with a cast of only women.
Maggie’s female-led Henriad is unprecedented at the time, and the controversial decision leads to many hurdles she must overcome over the course of the play. The board of directors presents an immediate obstacle that prevents her from moving forward. She particularly faces hearty resistance from Ellsworth Snow, the president of the board. He protests that putting on a play during wartime is a terrible idea. He goes so far as to say, “go home and roll some bandages, Mrs. Dalton. . . . We need to focus on the war effort, not frivolity.” Maggie argues that this is the perfect time for them to put on the Henriad because it can be used to inspire their community in a time of much distress. It isn’t until Maggie offers Ellsworth’s wife, Winifred, a role in the Henriad that he finally gives them permission to push forward with their plans.
Not only does Maggie face resistance from the men in charge, she finds herself faced with judgment and unexpected demands from the women around her. Celeste is an actress who has been with the company as long as Maggie and Andrew. She has always taken the leading role and has left a lasting impression on the audiences who have seen her perform. As women weren’t compensated for their performances, Celeste has never been paid for her work. She explains to Maggie that while she is playing a man, she deserves to be paid as such. This inspires all the other women to become excited about the prospect of finally having a paycheck of their own.
The women begin to explain what they’ll be able to afford with this new income. Winifred looks forward to being able to buy Ellsworth a Christmas present with her own money instead of his. Grace (a new addition to the ensemble) tells the group that on her husband’s military pay, she only has eight dollars left a month after buying her child’s medicine. June (another newcomer) shares that she’s down to her last pair of stockings. Receiving a salary for the first time gives these women a freedom they had never thought possible. To be financially independent is a gift to them that will allow them to care for themselves and their household while their husbands are overseas.
Once the women have created expectations about their new freedom and paychecks, Maggie must go to Ellsworth to get the board to approve a new salary structure. She argues that while some male members of the company have been paid for playing roles with only twelve lines, Celeste has been delivering life-changing performances without ever receiving compensation. She asks Ellsworth if he believes Celeste is worth any less than the male actors who have always been compensated. Ellsworth, however, is still hesitant to pay the women. When Maggie finally mentions Winifred’s desire to buy him a Christmas present with her own money, his stance begins to shift. While Ellsworth does eventually allow Maggie to pay the women and put on the production, he doesn’t necessarily take them seriously until the woman he loves is involved.
When Maggie comes back to rehearsal to tell the women that they’ll be getting paid, she discovers that Winifred has already told the group the good news. In doing so, Winifred and Ellsworth get the credit for the new salary structure. Despite Maggie’s hard work, she is never given the credit she deserves for standing up for the women. The power imbalance presented on stage in Into the Breeches reflects the circumstances of the ongoing societal fight for women’s rights. Those in power are often celebrated when they release some of the power they previously kept for themselves. When Maggie is fighting for what she believes in, Ellsworth finds her annoying and a drain, but when the board and Ellsworth go along with her ideas, they are celebrated and perceived as instrumental in making progressive changes.
The company’s seamstress, Ida is a thirty-year-old African-American woman who experiences the struggles associated with her gender, while also facing discrimination because of the color of her skin. When she goes to donate blood to aid the cause, she gets turned away by the nurse who tells her that they were “all set for colored blood.” This incident is what encourages her to fight for a place in the production for both her and Stuart (the company’s stage manager) who is prevented from enlisting because he is gay. Together they help to take on the previously empty roles in the production. The company then decides that in order to have an all-female production of the Henriad, the cast must be made up of all women. Stuart then takes it upon himself to dress in drag as a show of solidarity in order to perform his female role.
Maggie’s decision to perform the Henriad is a calculated and deliberate one. It’s a show about war and victory in a time where that’s all anyone knows. It speaks to the audience in a way that it never has during times of peace. Because of this symbolism, Ida makes the executive decision to change the costumes from Elizabethan corsets and pumpkin pants to modern military uniforms. This change gives the company a deep connection to their men overseas. They feel more like they’re a part of the war effort and less like outsiders. They add small details to their uniforms to give more significance to their costumes. Celeste adds many pins and medals since she’s playing the king. Ida adds a “double victory” patch which stands for victory at home and abroad. This symbolic patch represents the many battles she faces in life as a woman of color.
Initially, Maggie plans to add words to her opening monologue, preparing the audience for their unorthodox production. She and Andrew had decided through correspondence that while the monologue already apologizes for the amount of imagination the audience needs to use, they should also use that space to excuse the fact that there are only women in the cast. She prepares to interrupt Shakespeare’s folio lines with an interjection of her own writing in order to make this apology. However, as Maggie makes more decisions on her own, she becomes more confident in herself and her ideas, and more open to taking an unapologetic stance. Celeste pulls her aside and asks her to leave out the apology. They need to be able to take a stand with confidence and not feel the need to apologize for it. In the end, Maggie takes her advice and skips the apology. She even goes so far as to tell the audience to “enjoy the show.”
Through Into the Breeches, George Brant uses Maggie’s journey to offer us a window into a place where inclusion and representation in theater transform the lives of a theater company and its audience. This work demonstrates how theater offers a mirror to the audience in which they may see themselves in a brand new light. With more diverse casts, underrepresented groups are finally able to see themselves reflected onstage.
