For those who have ever wondered what life was like for those on stage during Shakespearean times, the Lost Flamingo Theatre Company is opening its production of “Boy My Greatness,” a play about the complexities of gender roles, religion and plague for young boy actors in 17th century London, England.
The play takes place during the summer of 1606 in the Globe Theatre, in which six boys prepare for their approaching productions of “Antony and Cleopatra” and “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare. A majority of these young boys play women’s roles, something that was very common in the time period. Acting was not seen as a professional or acceptable job for women.
Emma Smith, Oxford University professor of Shakespeare studies, said in a Royal Shakespeare Company article, “We don’t know exactly why women were not allowed to perform … It seems to be one of those cultural norms that’s so ingrained that nobody needs to tell anyone to do it and nobody needs to challenge it.”
Following cultural norms is exactly what these boys struggle with in “Boy My Greatness,” as some of them grow older and fail to move on from women’s roles, while some are against the more fluid aspects of performing.
Sarah Comer, a senior studying studio art, is the director of this production. Comer said she found the play on TikTok a couple years ago and became obsessed with it immediately.
The LFC production will be only the sixth production of “Boy My Greatness” since it was first premiered at the Hudson Guild Theater. Comer said she was able to get in contact with the playwright, Zoe Senese-Grossberg, who ended up sending the script to her for free. She said she pitched it to be produced last year in LFC, but it didn’t get picked up. This year, as a director, she picked up the production herself.
“This has been something that I've been thinking about for like, two years. I love it. I love everything it has to say about religious interference into the arts,” Comer said.
Comer said the themes of the play and the struggles the players go through are relevant to current times.
“Government interference into the arts is, unfortunately, at an all-time high,” Comer said. “And so this play is very timely, talking about that, talking about, almost like drag bands, talking about illnesses shutting down creative spaces and isolating individuals. It also talks about youth and growing up in a very interesting way.”
Isabella Campi, a freshman studying theater and history, is playing Sam in “Boy My Greatness,” a complex character that Campi said is repressed and dramatic. Campi said her character used to perform on stage before leaving to become a preacher.
“He's still performing. He's still doing the performance part of it, just in a way that he thinks is more socially acceptable,” Campi said. “He's very sad, but it comes out as anger.”
Campi said Sam has a romantic past with another character, Tom, and both of these boys are hiding their hurt feelings in the midst of figuring out their own problems and rehearsing for opening night.
Atlas Nielsen, a sophomore studying acting and classical civilization, is playing Tom. He said his character is petty, dramatic and traumatized. Tom is about to age out of playing women, something that is hard for him to grasp. Even though the plague makes the future seem uncertain, Tom insists he will play his last female role.
Comer is also the vice president of LFC and said the driven group of students in the group made her fall back in love with theater after a 10-year break.
“(LFC) is for everyone,” Comer said. “We have engineering majors, we have nursing majors, you know. It's a community space for everyone who is even slightly interested in theater.”
Samantha Fanger, a sophomore studying media production and the assistant director for “Boy My Greatness,” said LFC is a great place to connect with new groups of people in each production.
“You're collecting friends, and you're still interacting with the old people,” Fanger said.
Nielsen said he doesn’t have many people to interact with in his major, running into the same people every day in his classes. He said LFC was a way for him to meet new people who share similar interests.
“It's absolutely amazing to be interacting with other people that I know I would have never interacted with if I wasn't in this show,” Nielsen said.
“Boy My Greatness” will be shown at Arts West at 132 W. State St., Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday’s show will have American Sign Language interpreters. Tickets are $5 and paid at the door in cash. LFC will be accepting cash donations for Trans LifeLine as well.
