Yeah,
I realize I didn't list a father. It's complicated... they needed the guys on
cast for something else.
Anyway,
our director, Lindsey, told us to develop our characters a bit in our
downtime. Not just make up a name, but answer some questions: Why are you
visiting the village? Where do you live? Where is your husband since he's not
on stage with you?
She
told us to dig deep into our characters. I'm not sure how deep she expected us
to go, but a few of us went really far...
Here
I'll be introducing you to three characters in the show - Lydia, Alexandra, and
Elizabeth. They're hardly named on stage, but you'll see that these characters
have lives almost as complex as Cinderella's, and they're just as important to
our story.
Lydia - created and played by Emma Lindley
Lydia Aranea Contesa (formerly Lydia Clover), age 34, is a strong soul. Having been born into a poor family, she grew up working hard to get food on the table. Cooking quickly became her life. So much so that after her husband John was murdered, leaving her to raise her daughters Alexandra and Samantha alone, she started working as a merchant chef at
Lydia grew up poor so she knows how to keep a well-organized house. She is five foot four and her caramel brown hair and light freckles go well with her natural charm. At times she feels insecure about not making enough money as others in town as is afraid others will judge their family because of that. It embarrasses her when people call her a widow after her husband's death, but she hides it for the sake of the children. More than anything, she would love to travel to America to see the new, exotic land for herself. He loves strawberries and the smell of vanilla cookies.
Describe your family: [NOTE: I trimmed this down
from the 2 page version.]
I was the
only child of my parents, Eliana Winterwood and Bradford Clover. I grew up very
poor and desolate. However as I grew older, the Contesa brothers -- John,
Matthew, and Robert -- constantly vied for my attention. Matthew died of
scarlet fever and his share of the farm would go to whichever brother married
first. John and Robert fell over each other to propse t me first. I chose John.
I was 16. At 18 I had Alexandra and 7 years later, Samantha. When they were 9
and 2, John died and it left us very poor. I taught them myself and also cooked
for a living in the village. Time passed and I received a letter from Robert
who wanted to move in until he could recover from the fire that took everything
he owned. He bummed at our house for years. Through extenuating circumstances
[which will be explained later], I finally kicked him out. That's when I found
out that he had murdered my husband all those years ago. I ran to the castle
and got a message to the king that there was a murderer in town and Robert was
promptly arrested.
What is your idea of a perfect day? Looking after my daughters for a
couple hours in the morning, sending them out for a day with their friends
while I go into town and take care of my own business, going home to take care
of business at home, then getting my children back at the end of the day.
Give the schedule of your average day:
5 am: I wake up to wake up the girls
and do chores
Alexandra - created and played by Andrea
Beauchamp
Alexandra Rose Contesa, 16, is a fiery
spirit whose spark tends to be smothered out by the rules and expectations that
people hold her to because she is a suitor and in order to become a princess, a
spunky personality is perhaps not desired by princes all over the kingdom. She
is bubbly, caring, and loves being around younger children around the village
because they look up to her, and because of this, she at least tries to be a
good role model. She has a problem with wanting to please everyone, and by doing
so, she usually ends up pleasing everybody but herself. More than anything, she
loves to talk and to smile. She wants to make the most out of life whether that
means just living a simple life in a provincial village or perhaps living in a
kingdom with riches and royalty. Either way, nothing will stop her from
reaching her potential.Alexandra is five foot three with copper hair, rosy cheeks, and graceful poise though she's awkward in bouncy movements. She loves cooking, ballroom dancing, reading fairytale stories, and eating steel cut oatmeal with berries. People bug her when they are unladylike even though she acts the same at times. Though often talks fast and excitedly, Alexandra is thoughtful and has her quirks and insecurities, such as acting awkward and worrying about being rejected. She's an overachiever and hates the feeling of failure.
Who is your best friend? Elijah (Eli) Mink. He’s 18 years old
with straight, medium dark hair, and green eyes. He is loyal, funny, and
selfless in the way that he will give up his personal wants for his friends.
Everyone in Harravale knows each other, so we grew up knowing each other, but
not all that well. When my mom wanted me to go to school, I struggled because I
was trying to balance school and the etiquette lessons with Eli, so he offered
to just tutor me too. We got along instantly and he understood my point of view
on wanting but not completely being crazy about being a suitor, but he does his
job while still being a friend to me.
What is your fondest memory? Being with my dad on my 9th birthday.
He wanted to do something super special so he took me out horseback riding for
the first time. It was amazing and one of the best days of my life. He promised
that my next birthday would be even better, but he was killed just four months
before my 10th birthday.
Why are you visiting town the day the show opens on? I was going to go to my
manner, etiquette, and school lessons with Eli.
Elizabeth Abigail Smith, 32, is a free spirited mother to two daughters. Growing up, Elizabeth lived with her parents Adam and Maria and older brother Andrew in the village of Oakhill, located just 10 miles south of Harravale. When she was young, she nursed to dreams. One was to live in the castle of the king and queen as a noble. The other was to live in the woods, free and living off the land. Every time she decided on one dream, the other would seem even more appealing. Even once she married at the age of 17, she still reached for both. With her husband Richard, she moved to a farm in Harravale near the castle. She raised her two daughters to be proper and polite while still getting as much fun out of their childhood as possible. Dancing is a big part of her life, though she didn’t learn how to dance until she married. Then she found her natural talent and could hardly stop. For a few years she and Richard helped organize the village dances in the square on special holidays. She was an at home mother, until about a year ago when the family moved into the village just off the square for financial reasons and she began working as a baker.
Elizabeth, with her blond hair and bright blue eyes, is a happy person who loves to smile. While working, she’s light on her feet as if she could dance in an instant. A devote Christian, she leads hymns at church on Sunday and then sings around the house as she works. Since the family is tight on money, it annoys her when people waste money or food carelessly. She’s easy to talk to and tries to be as honest as possible.
What is
your favorite food? Fresh blue berry bread because it reminds me over happy
mornings with my mother and brother. When
I was young, my mom used to make Andrew and I freshly baked bread for
breakfast. She used a special recipe that made it moist while still firm enough
to be dragged through porridge. And if our father had been especially
unpleasant or mean the day before, she would make it with blue berries; a rare
treat my father didn’t approve of. (I also love oranges, for no particular reason. Oranges
are very rare and I’ve only had a few in my life, but I love them.)
What is your fondest
memory? Spending time
with my brother when we were young. We’d go bare horseback riding as fast as we
could across the fields to the other side of Oakhill and up the steep hill into
the forest (for which the town was named). From there, we could see the castle
10 long miles away. Sometimes I wished I lived there, buried in riches, instead
of here in Oakhill. Other times, I wished I lived in the woods, learning to
take care of myself. On these outings, Andrew taught me how to set traps to
catch animals, read some tracks, use a sling, and fire a small bow and arrow.
We were really close and he was the first person I told when Richard asked for
my hand. At the time, I wanted to live in the woods more than anything. They
were my escape from the reality of responsibility and consequences. Andrew
brought me back to reality and reminded me that escape was impossible. I had to
live a really life, not a fantastical one. He told me to accept Richard and
live a happy life.
What is your biggest
insecurity? I still
hold on to my two dreams: To live free in the woods and to live in the castle
as a noble. I don’t know which I want more… it depends on the day. Part of me
is always searching for a way to accomplish one of these dreams, but I’ve never
told Richard about them. I don’t want him to think that I am unhappy with our
life.
We worked together to create/describe the village our story takes place:
Harravale [Andrea made the name] is a small, provincial town – located just below the hill from the castle that rules over the surrounding lands -- of about 100 people. There’s a lake nearby, hills all around, paths through the forest and meadows, and a giant and beautiful castle up the way where the king and queen of the country live. Secrets are rare and hard to keep as everyone knows everyone else and everything that they’re doing. People are still kind to one another—unless it is a matter of suitors, dresses, appearances, and jealousy… then there is some dissonance between the teen girls. And because, everyone knows everything already, life tends to be pretty dull. There hasn’t been a near exciting event in town in the past three months at least, which makes the prince’s ball all the grander.
One more thing. Our families switched properties for one year for financial reasons: the Smiths moved to town and the Contesas moved to the country. Elizabeth explains the situations:
Until last year, I lived on a farm on the
outskirts of town with my husband and two daughters. It was a cute little place with a three room house, garden, and barn with
the cow, calf, and two horses. We owned ten acres of land,
some of which was devoted to growing hay and oats to feed the animals during
the winter.
Last growing season, gophers got into our
fields and ate all the seeds we were going to sell to
get some money, but now without it, we were coming up short.
Richard tried to get some carpentry work in town to earn money, but
there was nothing. We started to fall behind on our bills and searched for a
way not to lose the house and farm. We finally found someone in town – the
Contesas, a shop keeping family in the square -- that wanted to try farm living
for a year or so. We set up an agreement of property trade: they would take
full ownership of our farm for a year while we took full ownership of the shop
space in town. This was a cheaper option for us as the rent in town wasn’t
high, there was no farm to tend to, and I could open a small bakery to start
earning money again.
In late February, we packed up and moved
into town. The house was large: The front room is outfitted with shelves and a
counter to sell things. In the house portion was a kitchen, living room, bedroom, attic where the girls slept, and an extra room for storage.
~~~~~~
Now you've met three little known characters: Lydia, Alexandra, and Elizabeth. You've learned their backstories, visited their village, and got a sneak peak into their thoughts and feelings.
I'd like to point out... a few days ago these characters didn't exist. We'd never heard of them. But we each took on the (seemingly impossible) task of filling out a 60 questions paper about them. What you just read is a portion of the result.
And that's just the three of us! What about the other 47 cast members?
What are their characters like?
You haven't met them yet.
Come see visit us in Harravale. We'll be waiting.
Tickets for Cinderella available at www.journeytheater.org
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