It’s a play about strippers.
“If you don’t read the play and invest in it, you might think it is just trash up on stage,” actress Courtney Vye says. But, to the people at NeverYouMind Productions, their staging of A Particular Class of Women aims to be something much more substantive.
Their intention is to demystify the stripping industry, portraying the industry’s workers not as societal outliers nor abstract fantasies, but as actual human beings with ordinary human problems.
“It’s really a dramatic comedy, and a lot of fun, but you are going to see every face and every level about what working in this industry means. So you’re going to see the gritty parts, the awesome parts, the fantasy … you can’t separate them, they are all melded,” said actress Sarah Dawn Pledge.
The original production was a one-woman show written and performed by ex-stripper Janet Feindel. However, the version undertaken by the actresses of NeverYouMind has expanded, and now features a collection of eight separate monologues, each with its own mini-climax.
While “each monologue has its own [engaging] story, as a whole it connects,” said co-creator Lisa-Marie Marrelli. Through this, “[the show] becomes so full of these colourful characters that it’s popping at the seams — literally,” said director Flora Karas. This expansion allows the dramatists to explore the different corners of the stripping industry, showcasing a wide diversity of characters.
“I’m a 38-year-old ex-burlesque dancer who made the transition to nudity because she needed to, and I’m little rough around the edges, definitely one of the mother hens,” says Pledge about her character, Georgia Scott. “I’m an example of what age looks like in this business.“
Vye, on other hand, portrays something entirely different: “I’m Marky. She’s a dirty devil … she’s the newest to it, she’s 18, she took the job because it was no experience necessary.” Marky still sees stripping as a temporary stepping stone and “has her other goals and dreams,” according to Vye. “She’s not as jaded yet as the other girls, [but] she’ll get there.”
The performance contains some partial nudity and sensual dancing, a process that was new and daunting to many of the actresses involved. “I’m taking one piece of clothing off each week of rehearsals; it’s taking time,” laughs Vye.
However, the actresses fondly credit the environment of trust that prevails at their close-knit production company, giving special nods of respect to their entirely male backstage crew for acting in gentlemanly ways, making them feel safe even in the earliest rehearsals. “Thank god we have each other and can support each other,” reflects Karas.
A Particular Class of Women plays February 4–8 at the Firehall Arts Centre, February 18–23 at Presentation House, and March 6–8 at Inlet Theatre, all showtimes at 8 p.m. and with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees.
Update: A Particular Class of Women will be back from Feb 18-23 @ Presentation House Theatre
