The Red Brick Company presents: Ann-Marie MacDonald, Belle Moral (2005)
Scotland, 1899. Something is rotten on Belle Moral, the family estate of the MacIsaacs. After old Judge MacIsaac’s death, his daughter Pearl, a young amateur scientist, tries to unearth a dark family secret which is kept from her by her conventional and superstitious aunt Flora and Dr Seamus Reid, the family physician and evolutionary theorist.
How is the specimen of an ear, half human, half animal, which Pearl is given by Dr Reid, linked to her family history? Why does the family portrait, which Pearl’s mother painted before her premature death, seem so strangely incomplete? Why does Pearl’s melodramatic, kilt-wearing and whisky-loving brother Victor suddenly develop a phobia towards dogs?
With Belle Moral, Ann-Marie MacDonald has written a gothic comedy which stages discussions on evolutionary theory, eugenics, and psychology and how they have shaped Western thinking since the late 19th century. But these issues are addressed in such a playful, imaginative and entertaining manner that one easily forgets the seriousness and scope of the play’s central concerns.
After Goodnight Desdemona (Goodmorning Juliet) Belle Moral is the second play by Canadian dramatist Ann-Marie MacDonald which is performed by the Red Brick Company. And if there is anyone around who still remembers our production of Goodnight Desdemona in 2008: Belle Moral is just as good!
Dates: January 28 & 29 at 8.30 pm; February 3 at 4pm & 8 pm; February 4 & 5 at 8.30 pm.
Venue: Kurt-Wolters-Str. 5, R 020.
Student tickets and other concessions: 3 Euro
Regular tickets: 7 Euro