A Man and
Some Women

A Man and Some Women
by Githa Sowerby

I’ve kept you because you’re women. I’ve held my tongue because you’re women. I bully you? You’re the bullies.

Continuing in the tradition of our “archaeological” programming, we present a third play by Githa Sowerby, whose previously unpublished and little-produced plays Rutherford and Son (2004) and The Stepmother (2008) we have produced to critical and audience acclaim. A Man and Some Women has been called the ‘soul-mate’ of Rutherford and Son because it also examines the consequences on everyone’s lives when women, who because of convention and society, are forced to be idle with no means to earn a living. Sowerby’s bold portrayals of the real lives of women in that period continue to bring us back to this playwright.

Set in London, Richard Shannon longs to leave his business to take up a post as a scientific advisor in Brazil. But he feels duty-bound to remain and support several members of his family: his wife, his two unmarried sisters and a young boy cousin left to him under the cloud of his mother’s dubious circumstances. They all depend on him for everything it seems – his wife loves to buy things and no longer hides the fact that her interest in her husband is mostly monetary; his sisters have always depended on him financially but are anxiously awaiting the settlement of their mother’s estate so they can gain financial independence. Thankfully he has one family member he can count on – his cousin Jessica, a young woman who earns her own living and relates to Richard as an equal. When his sister Rose catches Jessica and Richard in a compromising position and she threatens to ruin them, Richard must reveal the truth not only about their finances but his own desires.

A Man and Some Women remains unpublished and we were made aware of it through Patricia Riley, an author working with Githa Sowerby’s daughter on a book, Looking for Githa (available at the Shaw Shop). Samuel French in London had several of Sowerby’s plays and we were delighted and amazed to receive five original, typed manuscripts including A Man and Some Women. It has only been produced a few times – in 1914 at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester and only once since (Bristol, 1996). Critics called The Shaw’s production of The Stepmother, “a refreshing … triumphant resurrection” (Globe and Mail), “a long-lost gem” (Hamilton Spectator) and “the major discovery of the season” (Syracuse New Times). In the Lord Chamberlain edition of this script – a script placed in the British Library – the licensor said about the play, “A clever and thoughtful play of a man beset by women … the merit of the play is in the soundness and delicacy of its characterization.” We certainly agree and think that A Man and Some Women is another hidden treasure waiting to be discovered by our audiences. Directed by Alisa Palmer, our production features Graeme Somerville as Richard and Marla McLean as Jessica, with Kate Hennig and Sharry Flett as his sisters and Jenny L. Wright as his wife Hilda.