An all-female creative team join forces to bring a quartet of mid-18th-century pre-feminist Englishwomen to sporadically intriguing but too often meandering 21st-century life in Kit Steinkellner’s Ladies, a Boston Court Pasadena World Premiere.

The ladies in question include Blue Stocking Society founder Elizabeth Monatagu (Meghan Andrews), whose decision to welcome several similarly progressive-minded friends into her home to chat about matters artistic and philosophical initially attracts only Elizabeth Carter (Carie Kawa), left with time on her hands since her scandalous poetry made her a societal pariah.

Fortunately for our salon hostess, she and her poet friend do end up joined by painter Angelica Kauffman (Tracey A. Leigh) and aspiring novelist Frances Burney (Jully Lee) for tea and conversation about how tough it is to be a woman in the 1700s.

Take for instance Kauffman, denied the freedom to paint the same subjects as her male counterparts, or Burney, told that no one will take her seriously unless she publishes under a male pseudonym.

Not that the latter is anywhere near the truth, as playwright Steinkellner is eager to admit in one of a series of fourth-wall-breaking monologs delivered in turn by each of the four protagonists minus British accents.

It turns out that it wasn’t until a century later that women had any trouble publishing novels without pretending to be men, just one instance where the playwright is proud to proclaim that if facts don’t fit the story she wishes to tell, fiction will do just fine.

The lesbian relationship that develops when Angelica paints Frances in her birthday suit probably didn’t happen either, but no matter, since there must have been women back then who loved other women but didn’t have a name for the feelings they were feeling.

1750s men may not all have been sexist oafs, but you’d never know it from Ladies, not when Leigh and Kawa don male attire for sex scenes intended to illustrate women’s second-class citizenship in a world that considered them half-human, half-object.

In other words, if you’re looking for historical accuracy or a balanced perspective, you’ll have to look elsewhere than Ladies.

In the production’s favor, its four leads are all absolutely terrific in some admittedly challenging roles, and Jessica Kubzansky directs with accustomed visual flair.

Still, at an hour and forty-five minutes, the intermissionless Ladies ends up outstaying its welcome, thanks in large part to running commentary that comes across part Ted talk, part therapy session.

Design-wise Ladies hits the mark every step of the way, from Sara Ryung Clement’s striking crimson-floored, white-accessorized set to Ann Closs Farley’s frilly white period-esque costumes, which the women don piece by piece in an intricately choreographed opening sequence underscored by composer-sound designer Nihan Yesil’s selection of dance-club tracks.

Jaymi Lee Smith’s vivid lighting and Courtney Lynne Dusenberry’s 18th-century props and four sets of red-framed glasses merit their own kudos, as does Nike Doukas’s accent coaching.

Margaret Starbuck is assistant director and engagement coordinator. Trixie Eunhae Hong is production stage manager and Jennifer Gonzalez is assistant stage manager. Casting is by Julia Flores.

Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Carter, Frances Burney, and Angelica Kauffman might make fascinating subjects for a BBC miniseries or year-end British Oscar contender. Overly fictionalized and with too much time devoted to contemporary ramblings, Kit Steinkellner’s version of these Ladies only occasionally manages to engage.

Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena.
www.bostoncourt.org

–Steven Stanley
June 13, 2019
Photos: Jenny Graham

Tags: Blue Stocking Society, Boston Court Pasadena, Kit Steinkelner, Los Angeles Theater Review