Archives - November 1997

THE JOY RIDE
by Georgina Reid

Produced by Mary Frost

THE PLAY

Historical drama, set in an 11th century Saxon castle. Lady Godiva, guided by a vision supplied by Old Moll the soothsayer, agrees to ride naked through the streets of Coventry if her husband Leofric will repeal some of the taxes levied upon the poor. Earl Leofric is not unhappy with the proposal: despite his fearsome reputation as a stern warrior, he would like to improve the lot of his people - as long as he can do so without losing face and appearing weak. To safeguard Godiva's modesty, he has arranged her an escort of nuns and issued a decree that nobody is allowed to so much as look out of their house while the ride takes place.

Unfortunately, Godiva, regretting the idea, takes on a little too much Dutch courage and passes out - leaving her younger sister Christina to go in her place. Young Thomas, soon to be famed for Peeping, has been tasked with commemorating the event in rhyme and cannot resist a small look as the procession passes. Which is why his poem refers to raven hair, when Godiva's is actually golden. Lady Christina sets him right on this, saving him from potentially fatal embarrassment in front of the Earl.

Flushed with her new-found fame, Godiva turns quite unpleasant, even going so far as to try seducing Christina's husband and upholding a claim that Christina has committed adultery. Thomas is forced to speak up at that, confessing that he saw Christina riding in Godiva's place at the time of the alleged crime. It is left to Godiva's mother Hilda to sort the ongoing crisis out - and the rest, as they say, is history...

FROM THE GROUP

Another of my favourite plays. This one features the story of the supposed happenings of Lady Godiva's ride through the streets of Coventry.
In this version of events, far from being the brave woman saving her people from heavy taxes, Godiva is weak and timid and frightened of offending her beloved husband, Earl Leofric and her over-bearing mother. So her feisty younger sister, herself married to a prudish man, elects to take her ride for her. However things do not turn out as planned and it appears it was the maid who undertook the adventure. Or was it?!
There is a nice scene in which Old Meg - a ragged woman who professes second sight - has a vision of Coventry in flames with strange objects flying through the air: a clear insight into the later destruction of Coventry in the war. We wrote to the city of Coventry and they sent us some publicity material which we were able to use in our programme. Pleasing performances were achieved with the cast managing to portray well-defined characters in a play of no great depth. We again produced a wonderful set and costumes which added to the creation of the 11th century period . Our wardrobe and set design team never let us down! WELL DONE!!!!
Mary - Producer

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