By Susanna Centlivre
Uprising Series curated by Hannah Rittner
*We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts in supporting Hannah’s curatorial residency with the Festival from 2020-2022.

Series Description:
Hannah Rittner has discovered 400-plus plays by women between the 17th and 21st centuries as part of her two-year research project with the Stratford Festival entitled “The Feminist Expansion of the Western Canon,” in which she seeks to transform the Western theatrical canon so that it may include and celebrate the female gaze. In this series she has pulled together four plays that showcase women fighting against injustice through acts of uprising, and in doing so they become the heroes of their own story—but not without a fight.

Play Description:
Isabella escapes an arranged marriage by jumping out of her window. Colonel Briton miraculously catches her fall, and so he immediately takes her to Violante’s house, where she is hidden. Felix, the beloved to Violante, becomes wildly jealous when he notices Colonel Briton at her house, hoping to speak with Isabella. Violante is now faced with the impossible choice: does she confess Isabella’s whereabouts to Felix? Or does she protect her friend’s right to say no to marriage?