An Uncommon Language - {{ productInfo[0].CHARACTER }}

An Uncommon Language is about the repression of women and the nature of madness. Set in England in 1906 (but contemporaneously relevant), the play examines the life of Héloise Lacasse, a 33-year-old woman, an untrained but intuitive and extremely talented sculptor, who -- by choice -- subjugates her prowess to benefit John Batiste, her lover of four years, the 24-year-old, accomplished and self-described enfant terrible of English sculpture: She silently crafts the heads for various pieces of his statuary. Héloise has a history of free-spirited, volatile, almost anarchic behaviour, which, ultimately, John interprets -- either from his fear that the truth will be discovered or out of genuine concern for her welfare -- as being potentially self-destructive, and has her institutionalized. The play shifts back and forth in time, revealing on one hand details of Héloise’s nature, her relationships with John and others (notably, Charlotte Purcell, a close friend who is a painter, and supportive of Héloise’s talent; and Glynn Rausch, a prominent [fictional] critic of the era who lauds John’s work, then recognizes parts of it as being of Héloise’s creation and confronts her (she denies his allegation), and the evolution of John’s decision to hospitalize her. Counter-pointing that is Héloise’s life in the facility, her frustration at being prohibited from working, the development of her relationship with Nora Bayless, another woman who has been placed there, her struggle to retain the sanity John and the hospital staff maintain is fragile, and her eventual loss of hope leading to suicide. Ultimately, and because of Héloise’s death, John’s secret remains intact – except to the few who know the truth but have no clear proof. The intent is to leave the audience both distressed and ambiguous about the validity of John’s thought process (rather than his decision, which in contemporary terms will be viewed as principally or wholly self-serving), and the consequence his action has not only to Héloise but on him as a human being and an artist, and those to whom he, as an artist, is answerable.see less

An Uncommon Language is about the repression of women and the nature of madness. Set in England in 1906 (but contemporaneously relevant), the play examines the life of Héloise Lacasse, a 33-year-old woman, an untrained but intuitive and extremely talented sculptor, who -- by choice -- subjugates her prowess to benefit John Batiste, her lover of four years, the 24...see more