"The Beaux' Stratagem" at the National Theatre

Last night the group and I went to see another play at the National Theatre, "The Beaux' Strategem." It was an absolutely fantastic play about a pair of thieves who intend to take the fortune of a family, but they end up falling in love with a couple women of the household. When I read the play, I knew there was potential for it to be very funny, but that humor paled in comparison to the hilarity of the production itself. It was much better than the previous show that we saw at the National, "Light Shining over Buckinghamshire." For this blog, I've been asked to write about a specific element of the production and its significance, so I've chosen to write about the hair of the characters. 

It being a period piece, the hairstyles of the characters meant more in terms of social status than hairstyles do today. In today's world, you can get an expensive-looking haircut no matter what your economic status is thanks to the countless number of salons in the world. Back then, however, your hair said a LOT about where you stood socially. Men of high status wore wigs to give themselves a much classier look, and women wore their hair in very ornate fashion to signify their status. This held true for the play, which dealt with many upper-class women who wore their hair in very grandiose ways. This helped the authenticity of the play and helped establish the setting of an upper class home, where it would make sense for thieves to want to steal such a large sum of money. One character in particular who stood out was Lady Bountiful who, quite suitably, had a very large and obnoxious hairstyle to coincide with her personality, and this fact only added to the comedy of her character. Overall, it was easily one of the top plays we have seen so far, and made me laugh harder than most plays that I've seen. 

On a side note, with each new blog post I will include a British word, phrase, or tendency that I have learned during my stay. This blog's word is: "knackered," which means tired or worn-out.