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Mother Clap's Molly House

Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy  /  7w, 14m

Mark Ravenhill, Matthew Scott

Mark Ravenhill's play "Mother Clap's Molly House" explores the gay subculture of 18th-century London.

Mother Clap's Molly House

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    7w, 14m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period, Experimental, Romantic Comedy
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
It's London 1726, and Mrs. Tull's got problems. The whores are giving her a hard time, a man in a dress is looking for a job, her husband has a roving eye and the apprentice boy keeps disappearing for 'a wander'. Meanwhile in 2001 a group of wealthy gay men are preparing for a raunchy party. Mother Clap's Molly House, a black comedy with songs is a celebration of the diversity of human sexualtiy, an exploration of our need to form families and a fascinatig insight into a hidden chapter in London's history.
History
Premiere at the Lyttelton Theatre, part of the Royal National Theatre, in September 2001.

MRS. TULL
STEPHEN TULL
MARTIN, THEIR APPRENTICE
PRINCESS SERAPHINA

WHORES
AMELIA
AMY
MARY CRANTON
MARY BOLTON

WORKING MEN
KEDGER
PHILIPS
THOMAS ORME, THEIR APPRENTICE
GABRIEL LAWRENCE

DEITIES
GOD
EROS

JOSH
WILL
CHARLIE
TINA
TOM
EDWARD
PHIL

Note from Mark Ravenhill: I'm happy for any of the parts to be played by whoever, whatever
gender. The gendered casting is only a suggestion and the parts are open to
anyone wherever they are on the gender spectrum. 

  • Time Period Contemporary, 18th Century
  • Setting London 1726 and London present day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes, Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Play w/ Music, Drag Performance
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Nudity/Partial Nudity

Media

"Ravenhill's writing is tough, eloquent, sardonic, with some of the barbed formality of the Resotration style, which gets brutally peeled off in the present-day scenes. This is not a play you 'enjoy'. This is not a gay play either... The message of this play is not 'Come out', but 'Come in'." John Peter, Sunday Times

"Mark Ravenhill clearly likes to have it both ways. In this wonderfuly exuberant new musical play, he celebrates Sodom like there's no Gomorrah...Delicate souls may be offended but there is no doubting the sincerity of Ravenhill's assault on the tranformation of sex into a dirty business." - Michael Billington, Guardian

"A theatrical manifesto for sexual tolerance that teeters wildly between the politics of Bertolt Brecht and the in-your-face deviancy of a gay nightclub...Ravenhill combines graphic sex with a generosity of spirit." - Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph 

"In this wonderfully exuberant new musical play at the Lyttelton, he celebrates Sodom like there's no Gomorrah. But the satirist in him also attacks the commodification of sex and the resultant loss of love. The result is an evening rich in rudery and ambivalence." - The Guardian

"... there’s something richly moving about witnessing the aesthetic coming-of-age of Shopping and Fucking scribe Ravenhill, whose new play evinces less interest in shock value per se than in showing an unexpected tenderness toward characters who are themselves struggling toward love." - Variety

"This play seems a little gentler and funnier than Ravenhill’s previous work although his trademark buggery scene still makes an appearance. He treats his characters with more affection and, at times, the play is reminiscent of the work of Jonathan Harvey." - British Theatre Guide

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
    This title may have restrictions in place for London based productions. Please submit a licence request to confirm specific availability.
  • Mandatory Music/Media Fee: £32 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Mark Ravenhill

Mark Ravenhill was born in Haywards Heath, West Sussex in 1966. He studied Drama and English at Bristol University. His first play Shopping and Fucking was produced by Out of Joint and the Royal Court Theatre in 1996. Subsequent plays include Faust Is Dead and Handbag (both ...
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Author

Matthew Scott

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