Move over, Marquis de Sade: Tomorrow night, meet the original
poster boy for sex and alcohol.
John Wilmot, the second earl of Rochester, fornicated with the
same fervor as his fellow sex addict almost 100 years before the
Marquis’ time. Rochester’s sexcapades stunned
17th-century London, as did his hedonistic behavior and sexually
explicit poetry and plays. His life will be brought back to life in
Steven Jeffrey’s play, “The Libertine,” which
opens on Nov. 9 and runs through Nov. 18 in the Macgowan Little
Theater.
The play is bursting with shocking language and disturbing
themes. In fact, it is almost surprising that it was deemed
“university appropriate” and given permission to be
produced at UCLA.
“I think that there are a lot of schools that this show
would not be allowed to be done at because of its content and
things that happen within the show, and I love that,” said
Shawn Colten, the third-year theater student who will portray
Rochester.
Rochester’s life story is fascinating, largely due to his
tendency toward rebellion and an apparent aspiration to break all
the rules. He was infamous for being a libertine, someone who
rejects society’s moral standards and chooses instead to lead
an unrestrained life of pleasure and indulgence.
Rochester married heiress Elizabeth Malet (whom he had once
abducted after being unable to get past her guards to visit her)
and had several mistresses. His indulgences of countless sexual
romps and bottles of alcohol were reflected in a completely
unabashed, provocative way in his poetry and stage plays, and he
was not afraid to offend anybody in the least.
“This is a character who throws it in people’s faces
and who wants to shock people,” Colten said. “He kept
getting kicked out of the court because he was writing these plays
that were pretty much the closest thing to porn that you could
find.”
Rochester’s behavior both in and out of the bedroom over
300 years ago, as well as the bawdy poetry and plays he authored,
might seem shockingly excessive even in today’s promiscuous
world. But that is precisely what much of the cast and crew of
“The Libertine” are hoping to accomplish through
telling his story.
“I’m hoping for the audience to be shocked because
that’s part of what makes the play work, and that’s
what makes it funny at times,” said Kyra Morris, the
third-year theater student who will portray Rochester’s
devoted wife.
Morris stresses, however, that the audience look more closely at
Rochester’s life and motives and what they reveal about him.
Rochester was captivating in such a way that reaches deeper than
the superficial naughtiness of his actions.
“I hope that the audience is listening closer than the
innuendo and the shocking choice of words and the swearing, and I
hope they look past the sexual images,” she said. “I
hope they listen to what is being said, how it’s being said,
and even why it’s being said.”
Beneath Rochester’s perverted and emotionless exterior,
there’s potential for the discovery of a desperate man who
spent his short-lived adult life searching frantically for the
ability to feel.
Dan Bonnell, a visiting professor equipped with 25 years of
directing experience, was drawn to Rochester’s story and
wanted to direct it because he thinks it’s something that
almost anyone can connect to.
“Ultimately, it’s about a man who is trying to find
meaning in his life and lives in extremes in order to try to feel
something, but takes the wrong pathway,” Bonnell said.
“So, it’s a common kind of universal situation. He just
happens to be a little more self-destructive than most of us
are.”
Rochester’s self-destructiveness, though incredibly
tragic, provides an intriguing plot that promises to be
tremendously engaging.
“It’s got scenes in it that will probably be tough
to watch for anybody weak of heart. We are going to be doing some
pretty gutsy things on stage,” Colten said.
To tell the story of a controversial figure such as Rochester,
complete with raunchy, offensive language and provocative, sexual
story lines, certainly requires guts. “The Libertine”
provides, among many other things, an intimate and raw look inside
the mind of a real-life sex addict who eventually paid the price
for his reckless lifestyle.
“It’s very sexy and adventurous, and it’s got
a lot of subject matter that is a little bit raunchy. And
it’s disturbing, but in a good way,” Bonnell said.
“This is not an 8 o’clock sitcom.”
Certainly, the fact that this stage play is so risky and
offensive mirrors the writing that Rochester himself did while he
was alive. In a sense, it is as if he is living vicariously through
the actors who portray him, doing what he did best: shocking his
audience.
And almost as if Rochester were in fact speaking through him,
Colten got into character as he proclaimed that this production is
much more than just a typical biographical drama.
“It’s not just about speaking correctly and moving
correctly on stage,” Colten said. “It’s about
getting dirty.”