Power’s Uses and Abuses Investigated Allegorically

A 19-year-old Englishwoman’s passage from innocence to knowledge--and the attendant revelry, horror, triumph, confusion, militance, deceit and despair--is the subject of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s “The Grace of Mary Traverse.” The production, which opened Nov. 13, is receiving its American premiere in L.A. Theatre Works’ staging at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

“The play is a historical allegory of Mary’s journey--not a realistic one,” director Peggy Shannon explained. “It’s historical because the writer set it in the year 1780, and it’s drawn from that period. But she’s also very clear about not wanting it to be a period play--rather for it to serve as a metaphor for the 1980s. When you put the story back in time, it’s much easier to see the relationships between men and women and class politics.”

Like Wertenbaker, who is American-born, English-based and a very hot literary property right now, Shannon feels that the story is universal and timeless.

“Mary Traverse is trapped inside her gender,” she said. “The corset encases her. And you can see what the moral cost of knowledge is for a woman then--especially one who’s innocent. But she’s thirsty for knowledge and goes into the streets of London, into the dark side, where she learns about the world, learns about the freedoms that have been reserved for men.

“In the first half of the play, Mary learns about personal things--about sex, gambling, cockfighting: how men interpret power, what they do with it. She finds that that’s not satisfying enough; she wants more. So in the second half, she learns about politics. She loves that power. She’s absolutely giddy when the riots start, and she believes they’re at her instigation. But when the people are being burned and shot, she feels herself responsible--and suddenly is aware of the weight of that power.”

It’s a lesson, the director believes, that should not be limited to female audiences.

“I hope everyone can identify with what it feels like for someone--be it a woman, be it anybody in society who doesn’t have power--to suddenly get it and not know what to do with it,” Shannon said. “But it’s not like a traditional play where the protagonist has a number of obstacles in her way and maybe a little flaw here or there. Mary is not the ‘nice guy’ protagonist we’re used to seeing. I think it makes her far more interesting.”

The issue of being a woman in a man’s world is especially pertinent to Shannon, 34. Born in Riverside, after 6 years of acting and directing in London followed by study for a master’s of fine arts at the University of Washington, she has carved out a healthy career in regional theaters around the country.

“I’ve never felt I lost an interview to a man,” she said, “yet when I look around in theater, I really don’t see many women directors.” Shannon herself has managed to bridge the gap with lots of hustle--and travel.

Last year, after moving to Los Angeles, she had five directing jobs out of town. Now she would like to stay here more, and also get into television and film. Two weeks ago she married film editor Steve Cohen, and she believes it’s time to settle down.

It doesn’t mean an end to exciting work. A self-described fan of new and untried theater, Shannon found in “Mary Traverse” a forum for personal and political themes, and for her own creativity.

“I’ve tried to make it stylized,” she said, looking around at the bare-bones set, almost devoid of props. “For instance, in the scene where Mary pays Mr. Hardlong to have sex, instead of going over to him on the chaise, the light will come up on her, and she will be alienated, reaching out and having sex with him. We’ll see her point of view--as opposed to a realistic interpretation of sex.”

As for the play’s point of view: “It is a woman’s play in that there’s a female protagonist--and it was written by a woman,” she said. “But it’s not just a woman’s play. And it’s not a history of feminism. It’s as much about class as it is about gender. Mary is just one woman. She’s not Everywoman. In the final analysis, the play becomes genderless.

“It’s about the power of knowledge, knowledge of the world,” Shannon added. “At the top of the play, Mary has an intellectual understanding of things; she’s read about every form of depravity, every form of art and philosophy--but she’s never experienced them. Therefore she doesn’t really know the world. As she finds out, knowledge is a costly, costly thing.”