“My Cloister shall not be a Cloister of restraint, but a place for freedom, not to vex the Senses but to please them.”

— Lady Happy, The Convent of Pleasure

This production is backed by the Sallie Bingham History Matters Grant — supporting student-directed productions of plays written by historical female authors..

Director’s Note

Margaret Cavendish’s 1668 play, The Convent of Pleasure, which is framed as a comedy with its apparent irreverence and outlandish shutting of the doors to the world with twenty other women, seems to me to be a telling account of a possibly very real (albeit idealized) ambition of the time. My mind goes to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, who found in the cloistered life the freedom to study, write, and pursue her intellect.

In my view, The Convent of Pleasure is no comedy at all, but an incisive and brave tale of women coming together against the injustice of the patriarchy. That said... it’s still very fun. Once incloistered, the Ladies explore their senses and imagination, becoming sea nymphs, shepherds and shepherdesses, holding balls, and acting out their own play.

In approaching this production as a class, it was important to me that every one of the students was included in a significant way. That led to the decision to divide the roles among them, and as a lover of ensemble work, I wanted to play with different expressions of sharing these roles — through mask, color coding, and presenting the different sides of the same character. The experiment led to lovely relationship building within the single characters and each other.

Lady Happy

As Lady Happy:

Arushi

Raza

Rapunzel, but awesomer.

As Lady Happy:

Brantley

Taylor

Skedaddling

As Lady Happy:

Jillian

Mitchell

bubbly and excited

As Lady Happy:

Lizette

De la Peña

give me time :)

As Lady Happy:

Meg

Sheets

Whimsical.

Princess

As Princess:

Bridget

Blanchard

time and music

As Princess:

Kate

Maddox

What?

Madame Mediator

As madame mediator:

Dyllon

Glaze

imaginative

As madame mediator:

Priscilla

Jackson

aubrey plaza knockoff

The Gentlemen

As Dick:

Edie

Franco

outgoing

As Advisor:

Helium

Yang

I want donut.

As take-pleasure:

Ray

Krpo

runs far away

Ladies of the Convent

As Mimick/Lady:

Alyssa Fallon

jolly and confused

As Lady:

Akira

Johnson

ambitious, passionate, and loving

As Lady:

Gabby

Almon

live, laugh, love

Behind the Scenes

Lighting

designer:

Olivia

Packwood

look behind you…

STAGE

MANAGER:

Shalom

Osoba

supernatural, loving’shalom

Deck

crew:

Lily Morris

First time techie

director:

Sofía Ruiz Carrera

Storyteller.

Consultants

Intimacy Director

Maurice Chinnery

Voice

Fiona Thompson

Text

Rachel Mewbron

Baroque Dance

Catherine Turocy

Cavendish Background

Dr. Vivian Appler

Sloan Garner

Dr. Christiana Harkulich

Dr. Sujata Iyengar

BTS

Costumes & Crafts

Gabby Almon

Bridget Blanchard

Lizette De la Peña

Edie Franco

Dyllon Glaze

Priscilla Jacskon

Ray Krpo

Kate Maddox

Arushi Raza

Meg Sheets

Brantley Taylor

Vocal Arrangements

Jillian Mitchel

Priscilla Jackson

Dramaturgy

Brantley Taylor

Media Production

Lizette De la Peña

Social Media

Dyllon Glaze

Special Thanks

Faculty Advisor

George Contini

House Manager

Osa Osawaru

Ushers

Bianca Cardona

Katherine Edgar

Nina Blair

UGA Tech Team

Ali Hooks

Chelsea Taylor

Erwin Greene

Terri Becker

Light-board support

Jacob Yurkuvitch

Sound-board support

Erwin Greene

Costume support

Tina Hantula

Bebe Franco - Edie’s sister :)

PR Support

Clay Chastain

Photographer & Poster

Marshall Smith

Administrative support

Dina Canup