Explorer Mary Henrietta Kingsley fit into late-19th-century British society about as comfortably as Tarzan. While other Victorian ladies were practicing needlework and having babies, Kingsley was wading through the malarial swamps of West Africa, climbing Mount Cameroon, studying the Fang people, a tribe with a reputation for cannibalism, and collecting fish and beetle specimens for the British Museum.
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“There are so many women who did these incredibly cool things and nobody has heard of them,” said director Eileen Vorbach, who teaches drama at the Actors Workshop. “It is absolutely exciting to try to bring these women to life.”
Means and Vorbach have also brought back the old-fashioned art of domestic theater, presenting Kingsley as she was in life–as a traveling lecturer. Means takes her into people’s homes as part of a soiree, hiding in an upstairs bedroom–becoming Kingsley–while the sponsors of the party feed their guests wine and snacks. When the guests gather in the sitting room, Kingsley arrives, dressed in a severe black gown, to talk about her travels, showing the audience maps, an African native fetish, and illustrations of her specimens. After the lecture, she takes questions.
WomanLore has put on about ten home performances, and has also presented the show at museums. The pair hopes to bring Kingsley and future shows to colleges and libraries–Means is currently working on a new script on union organizer Mother Jones, while Vorbach is writing something on abolitionist Fanny Kemble.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Dorothy Perry.
