Queen Elizabeth the First thought farts were hilarious. I learned this, and many other scatalogical facts about England in the 17th century, from “Brief Lives: songs and stories of old London,” a co-production between Toronto Masque theatre and Soulpepper currently playing as part of the Global Cabaret Festival at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. William Webster, himself a founding member of Soulpepper, stars in Patrick Garland's one-man cabaret staging of John Aubrey's manuscript Schediasmata: Brief Lives. Aubrey is credited with founding the biography as a literary form, and should probably be lauded as the true father of the celebrity tell-all as well. Although he delights in lurid anecdotes involving famous people -- his text was never intended for publication, one should point out-- “Brief Lives” is a fascinating look at life in England from the Golden Age of Elizabeth I through the Civil War and Restoration, brought vividly to life by director Derek Boyes and featuring songs from the period by musicians Katherine Hill, Terry McKenna, and Larry Beckwith.
What was life like in Merrie England? Well, fairly crude, raunchy and at times extremely brutal, apparently. Public urination and defecation was common (though perhaps frowned upon when done in excess). What we would probably consider date rape today was shrugged off as being all in good fun, although outright sexual violence (“ravishing,” in Aubrey's words) was a capital crime. Boys certainly fared little better than women in Aubrey's time, as a schoolboy could expect to suffer any manner of physical abuse with only slight disciplinary pretext -- sometimes continuing until he was old enough to receive a university degree. The concept of etiquette was at best loosely defined, as no less a figure than the philosopher Thomas Hobbes could attest when he witnessed a student masturbating while he (Hobbes) delivered a private lecture on geography. Conversely, the Earl of Oxford, who had the misfortune to involuntarily pass gas in front of Queen Elizabeth, was so embarrassed that he exiled himself from England for seven years. When he returned, the amused monarch greeted him, saying, “Oh my lord, we had quite forgot the fart.”
Webster makes a text which could only attract a scholarly sort of interest today seem completely alive and contemporary, while Toronto Masque Theatre lets us hear the soundtrack to Aubrey's life with music by Dowland, Ravenscroft, Lawes and Muffat. TMT and Soulpepper give us a unique look at a fascinating period in history, complete with humour, sadness, and nostalgia.
