Soskin Recreates Woolf Lectures
by MARTIN C. BARRY
Following a series of sold-out performances at Montreal's Monument National theatre, Westmount actress and director Gabrielle Soskin staged her one-woman show, Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own', before a spellbound audience last week at Westmount Public Library.
Part of the library's Two O'Clock Series, Soskin's performance recreated lectures that Woolf, one of the most prolific female writers of the English language, gave on the topic of women and fiction at Cambridge University in 1928. They were published in bookform as 'A Room of One's Own' a year later.
In her book, Woolf explores feminist themes by exposing the struggle of the female artist throughout history. She comes to the conclusion that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
Soskin's show, staged at the library before an almost entirely female audience, was meant to allow viewers to experience Woolf's ideas of women and fiction as they were originally presented by the author.
The monologue contains many literary allusions, which would be familiar to anyone majoring in English literature. There are also profound observations on the underlying motivations of men, and the reasons why women seem to occupy an inferior position to them in the world. Soskin carried it all off with flamboyance.
An actor, director and educator, Soskin has been active in the theatre all her life. She is a graduate of the Bristol Old Vic School and Trent Park College in England. She spent many years teaching drama at Roslyn School in Westmount as well as at John Abbott College on the West Island.
As artistic director of Persephone Productions, a local theatre company founded in 2000, she provides opportunities to young emerging theatre artists in their respective areas of expertise. In the past five years, the company has staged six major productions. This fall, they will be producing a new version by Ted Hughes of the Frank Wederkind play, 'Spring Awakening'.
During an exchange with the audience after her presentation, Soskin said part of her reason for founding the Persephone company was the departure of young talent from Montreal some years ago. "I had lived in Montreal since 1970 and saw the exodus of much of our young talent," she said. "I grew sad that these young people were so talented and there just isn't the work for them here, especially in this wonderful English language."
Jennifer Piercey, a recent graduate of the University of Calgary's MFA program in drama, explained in a program note how she approached the show. "I decided that my challenge in this production was to make this piece accessible to a modern audience, of both women and men," she said.
"I wanted Virginia's journey to appeal not only to the feminist, but to everyone... As long as we stay true to the words and their meaning, the spirit of Virginia Woolf will make its presence felt on the stage, and her message will continue to be passed on through the ages."
Metcalfe Avenue resident Gerald Glass, one of only two men who were present at the afternoon performance, agreed with the message. "Full equality would be very hard to achieve and in many societies it will never be achieved," he said. "So, in that sense, true enough it's topical and will always be topical."
Reprinted from The Westmount Examiner March 28, 2005
Following a series of sold-out performances at Montreal's Monument National theatre, Westmount actress and director Gabrielle Soskin staged her one-woman show, Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own', before a spellbound audience last week at Westmount Public Library.
Part of the library's Two O'Clock Series, Soskin's performance recreated lectures that Woolf, one of the most prolific female writers of the English language, gave on the topic of women and fiction at Cambridge University in 1928. They were published in bookform as 'A Room of One's Own' a year later.
In her book, Woolf explores feminist themes by exposing the struggle of the female artist throughout history. She comes to the conclusion that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
Soskin's show, staged at the library before an almost entirely female audience, was meant to allow viewers to experience Woolf's ideas of women and fiction as they were originally presented by the author.
The monologue contains many literary allusions, which would be familiar to anyone majoring in English literature. There are also profound observations on the underlying motivations of men, and the reasons why women seem to occupy an inferior position to them in the world. Soskin carried it all off with flamboyance.
An actor, director and educator, Soskin has been active in the theatre all her life. She is a graduate of the Bristol Old Vic School and Trent Park College in England. She spent many years teaching drama at Roslyn School in Westmount as well as at John Abbott College on the West Island.
As artistic director of Persephone Productions, a local theatre company founded in 2000, she provides opportunities to young emerging theatre artists in their respective areas of expertise. In the past five years, the company has staged six major productions. This fall, they will be producing a new version by Ted Hughes of the Frank Wederkind play, 'Spring Awakening'.
During an exchange with the audience after her presentation, Soskin said part of her reason for founding the Persephone company was the departure of young talent from Montreal some years ago. "I had lived in Montreal since 1970 and saw the exodus of much of our young talent," she said. "I grew sad that these young people were so talented and there just isn't the work for them here, especially in this wonderful English language."
Jennifer Piercey, a recent graduate of the University of Calgary's MFA program in drama, explained in a program note how she approached the show. "I decided that my challenge in this production was to make this piece accessible to a modern audience, of both women and men," she said.
"I wanted Virginia's journey to appeal not only to the feminist, but to everyone... As long as we stay true to the words and their meaning, the spirit of Virginia Woolf will make its presence felt on the stage, and her message will continue to be passed on through the ages."
Metcalfe Avenue resident Gerald Glass, one of only two men who were present at the afternoon performance, agreed with the message. "Full equality would be very hard to achieve and in many societies it will never be achieved," he said. "So, in that sense, true enough it's topical and will always be topical."
Reprinted from The Westmount Examiner March 28, 2005