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Edinburgh Reporter
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Bold, beautiful and scandalous – Lillie Langtry is back in Edinburgh
Brilliant actress, phenomenal beauty, mistress of the Prince of Wales – Lillie Langtry was an international Victorian superstar celebrity. Indeed, her stardom in America began when she was spotted onstage in Edinburgh and snapped up to go to the States – and when she arrived in New York the traffic stopped and the stock exchange closed. A town in Texas was even named in her honour. And now she's back in Scotland's capital and you have the chance of an audience with Mrs Langtry at this year's Fringe in Wilde Women. In the past she trod the boards at The Lyceum – programmes still exist from the 1880s – but today she is appearing at Greenside's Fern Studio on George Street. Krista Scott's one-woman play takes us back to 1900 when Langtry's career is in decline and when he close friend Oscar Wilde is condemned to social disgrace after he was convicted of 'indecency' offences related to his affair with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas. But Lillie has a plan – she wants to revive both their reputations and careers by writing a new play in which she reprises all of Wilde's most illustrious female characters – Cecily, Salomé, Mrs Cheveley, Mrs. Erlynne from Lady Windermere's Fan and naturally, Lady Bracknell. She is nervously awaiting a telegram giving his approval. Wilde Women sees Langtree explain, in fascinating detail, the background to the characters and to her's and Wilde's lives – and delivering a multitude of classic lines. Full of wit and insight into two of the most influential figures in the arts world of their day, the solo play emphasises the transformative impact of Wilde's writing on the presentation of women in theatre and literature. Scott says: 'Oscar Wilde had a profound effect on the representation of women onstage in the modern age. 'He launched the trend to feature strong, independent women as protagonists in dramas and in comedies, a trend picked up by George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and others. 'Without Lady Windermere's Fan, a play he wrote for Lillie Langtry, G.B. Shaw would've never written Mrs. Warren's Profession, which in turn examined the propagation of prostitution. 'Much of the development of psychologically complex women's roles in today's theatre can be traced back to Wilde's work. 'I also hope the audiences will come to appreciate the dazzling wit and beguiling irony embedded in his rhetoric and want to find out more about Oscar Wilde after seeing the play.' Scott started researching Wilde and the roles he created for women nine years ago – as she discovered more about his life she grew increasingly interested in his relationship with Langtry. Both were regarded as highly unconventional figures, sometimes feted by fashionable society and at other times damned. Langtry was the mistress of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, sometimes sharing a 'love nest' in Scotland. She became the first socialite to appear on the professional stage, starring in She Stoops to Conquer in 1881. Scandals and the squandering of huge sums of money saw her fortunes fading as the dawn of the 20th century beckoned. Like this: Like Related
The Herald Scotland
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
We should celebrate Oscar Wilde as a mould-breaking feminist
One a playwright adored by society and then destroyed by its hypocritical condemnation of his homosexuality; the other the first socialite to appear on stage, who captivated and scandalised in equal measure (this included her affair with the Prince of Wales – complete with sojourns in a Scottish love nest). They were powerhouses for change. Wilde gave us the self-actualised female protagonist who apologises to no one. What's more he approached the female characters in his plays from all different angles. Some are martyrs (The Duchess of Padua), some are righteous warriors (Vera); some are ridiculous (Lady Bracknell), some are conniving (Mrs Cheverly) or vindictive (Salomé); some are philosophical (Mrs Allonby), some are frivolously shallow (Mabel Chiltern); many buck conventional domesticity and reliance on a husband; all are fiercely independent thinkers, like his own mother, Lady Jane Wilde, a poetess 'who was considered to be the most ardent and hot-headed of Irish Nationalists'. It's difficult to overstate how important this was for modern theatre and literature. Soon other playwrights followed suit by portraying women as individual beings untethered to husband or family. George Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession soon after seeing the opening performance of Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, and the similarities in social politics and the nonconformist mother roles are undeniable. August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov subsequently adopted the style of creating more psychologically complex female characters at the turn of the 20th century. The direction of Western theatre and literature irrevocably shifted. Wilde gave audiences a multitude of memorable characters and quotes such as Mrs Cheverly's quip in An Ideal Husband: 'The strength of women comes from the fact that psychology cannot explain us. Men can be analysed; women… merely adored.' Contrasts between the sexes are a common theme in his social comedies: In A Woman of No Importance, Mrs Allonby ironically argues against the conjecture that wives' frivolity were what made marriages unhappy: 'How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she was a perfectly rational being?... We have always been picturesque protests against the mere existence of common sense. We saw its dangers from the first.' Something else I realised in the nine years I've spent researching Wilde was that his impact on the role of women wasn't restricted to fictional worlds. His relationship with Langtry was crucial to her rise to stardom, and she in turn influenced his poetry and playwriting. He dedicated poems to her and based the character of Mrs Erlynne in Lady Windermere's Fan on Langtry's life experience. And Langtry's life and personality were every bit as outsized as Wilde's characters. Both deserve wider recognition. This is something I hope to contribute to at the Edinburgh Fringe with my one-woman play Wilde Women which celebrates how they strengthened women's voices on the stage using humour, grit and grace. Krista Scott is the writer and performer of Wilde Women, which she is presenting at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is a well-known actor, director and dialect coach and Professor of Theatre at Texas Christian University in the USA.
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
In 2025, the scandal at the center of ‘Mrs. Warren's Profession' lands differently
David R. Gammons's spare set is dominated by an oversized conference room table beneath a screen with mysterious flashing numbers and charts. The whole thing suggests an awkward marriage of the intellectual compartmentalization of the characters from ' Advertisement Within the sterile boardroom environment, we meet Vivie Warren (Luz Lopez), a no-nonsense, independent young woman fresh out of university, who prefers actuarial accounting to concerts and museums. Now that Vivie has graduated from the best schools money can buy and is of marriageable age, her mother Kitty Warren (Melinda Lopez), who kept her distance and the nature of her business a secret, decides it's time for a closer mother-daughter relationship. While condemning a society that condones poverty while denying economic opportunity and flouting a double standard for women, the true heartbreak within 'Mrs. Warren's Profession' comes from the fracturing mother-daughter relationship at its heart. It's a breakdown spurred by their conflicting views on how to earn a living without 'wearing out your health and appearance for other people's profit.' Advertisement The play's emotional strength emerges from the sparks that fly between these two ambitious, independent women and the gap between the assumptions and expectations parents and children often have for themselves and each other. When Vivie learns that the money that bought her education was earned through prostitution, she expresses shock and moral outrage. Her mother's impassioned defense is based on the choices available to women. Vivie is won over, until she learns her mother continues to operate her profitable network of brothels, at which point she disowns her mother, determined to make her way in the world without her. Nael Nacer and Wesley Savick. Nile Scott Studios Four men orbit this mother/daughter sparring match, representing aspects of the transactional world these women must navigate. They include Kitty's friend and confidante Praed (a dapper and dashing Nael Nacer), who makes a case for the artistic life; Sir George Crofts (an appropriately slimy Barlow Adamson), Kitty's business partner, for whom everything is a business deal, including an offer of marriage to Vivie; Frank Gardner (Evan Taylor), a shallow young bounder and Vivie's love interest, who sees her as his meal ticket; and Reverend Samuel Gardner (Wesley Savick), Frank's father and one of Kitty's former clients, who hides his profligate past behind the sanctimony of the church. Tucker earned an award-winning reputation for visceral co-productions between his New York-based theater company Bedlam and Central Square Theater, including 'St. Joan,' 'Twelfth Night,' 'What You Will,' ' Advertisement While the actors do clamber through an open window and sprawl around on the conference table, Tucker's approach tends to obscure, rather than reveal the essence of this play. That table also creates an uncomfortable distance between the characters, so that we never get close enough to see the cracks beneath Kitty's veneer of a successful businesswoman, or get past Vivie's arrogance. Each member of this company has moments when they shine, although oddly, it's the men who stand out – Nacer's suave and loyal friend; Adamson's rage at having his business deal rejected; Taylor's gold-digging eye on whoever can cover his bills; and Savick's blundering reverend, undone by the knowledge that Vivie may or may not be his daughter. But these singular moments never quite gel, and this production moves in fits and starts rather than the dynamic, fast-paced approach Tucker is known for. While it's true Shaw was eager to poke society in the eye with his strident messages – 'Mrs. Warren's Profession' was published as one of his trio of 'Plays Unpleasant' – if we don't have the opportunity to feel the tug of conflicting allegiances to this mother and daughter, we don't see the emotional price these women must pay, and we're left only with Shaw's polemic. MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION Play by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Eric Tucker, Bedlam, presented by Central Square Theatre through June 29. Tickets: $27-$103. 617-576-9278 x1,
New York Post
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Estate listed for $3.48M was once home to Led Zeppelin's lead singer — and once entertained a king
There's no stairway to heaven in this Welsh country estate — but it certainly has a lovely view. The former home of Led Zeppelin's lead singer Robert Plant, now 76, is on sale for $3.48 million in the small rural village of Penallt, located in southeast Wales, according to a release from the listing brokerage. Plant owned this seven-bedroom residence for about five years in the 1980s, following the dissolution of Led Zeppelin. But the ivy-covered Victorian house was historic long before the legendary rocker took up residence. 15 English singer-songwriter Robert Plant. AP 15 Plant and Jimmy Page perform at the peak of Led Zeppelin's fame in 1975. Rex Features/ Everett Collection 15 An aerial view of the Welsh country house. Knight Frank 15 The seven-bedroom home contains centuries of history. Knight Frank The home is called 'The Agoed' meaning 'by the wood,' in Welsh. It is a prominent residence in the verdant Wye Valley in southeast Wales with 16th century origins, although the current iteration dates back to the 1860s. It once received a visit from King Charles I, according to the listing, and it's rumored that the playwright Geroge Bernard Shaw wrote 'The Man of Destiny' and 'Mrs. Warren's Profession,' while a guest there. 15 One of five reception rooms. Knight Frank 15 The large kitchen and breakfast room. Knight Frank 15 The dining room. Knight Frank 15 Fresh paint and plush carpeting contrast with an old stone hearth. Knight Frank 15 The primary suite with sweeping views of the Welsh countryside. Knight Frank 15 The primary suite's ensuite bathroom. Knight Frank 15 The wood-paneled guestroom. Knight Frank 15 A child's room includes a blue-painted fireplace. Knight Frank 15 Another guest room with painted paneling. Knight Frank The three-story stone dwelling spans 9,321 square feet and boasts five reception rooms. The large primary suite extends across the entire southeast side of the home. One of the six guestrooms features floor-to-ceiling wood paneling in the Jacobean style. The current owners refurbished the home's sash windows, and relocated the kitchen and breakfast room to the heart of the home, according to the listing. The Argoed sits on 10.9 acres, which include a greenhouse, a Japanese garden, an arboretum and a 'monumental' stable block. 15 A garden area. Knight Frank 15 A view of Wye Valley through one of the home's French doors. Knight Frank Plant took up residence at the country house in 1985 — the same year Zeppelin reunited for a Live Aid performance in Philadelphia. The hard rock band achieved international fame in the 1970s, but came to a sudden end with the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. The band reunited again in 1988 for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, but Plant spent the majority of his tenure at The Argoed as a solo artist. Agent Robin Engley with Knight Frank holds the $3.48 listing.
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Home Lotta Love! Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant's hideaway country mansion up for sale for £2.5million
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant 's former hideaway country home has been placed on the market for £2.5million. The lead singer of the English rock band lived in the Grade II-listed manor house in Penallt, Monmouthshire, during the 1980s before moving out. Buyers hoping to snap up The Argoed, which boasts 10 acres of land with an arboretum and stable block, will also be purchasing a slice of history after it was visited by Charles I during the Civil War. It was also where George Bernhard Shaw wrote 'The Man of Destiny' and 'Mrs. Warren's Profession'. The kitchen has been moved into the heart of the home with an electric AGA and is surrounded by five reception rooms. A staircase leads to the first floor where there is the principal suite with large Georgian windows and a freestanding bath in the en-suite. There is also a guest suite with wood panelled walls along with five additional rooms spread across the entire second floor. The gardens are listed on the Welsh heritage body Cadw Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. They are a traditional country house blend of grass, shrubs and borders with sprawling views across the valley. There is also a Japanese garden set around a water feature, accompanied by an open fronted loggia. Estate agents Knight Frank said: 'The Argoed is a beautifully presented and imposing, Grade II listed, three storey country house. 'The core of the property dates back to Jacobean times. 'This special home is set within approximately 10 acres, enjoying breathtaking views, an impressive arboretum and a 'monumental' stable block. 'The famed architectural historian, John Newman, described The Argoed quite simply as "tantalising".' It comes after another one of Mr Plant's former homes hit the headlines last month as its new owner said he wants to turn the cottage and the land surrounding it into a micronation. The Bron-Yr-Aur cottage was used as a holiday home in the 1950s by the family of Mr Plant before he returned to the cottage in the 1970s with his bandmates. During their stay at the cottage in the 70s, Led Zeppelin used the cottage as a retreat to write music and escape from the crowds of fans who followed them around the country. It was in the idyllic setting that the band wrote some of their most famous hits, including Stairway to Heaven and Bron-Yr_Aur Stomp. The cottage has subsequently become a treasured location of rock folklore and attracts thousands of fans every year.
