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Geoff Coates on Directing “Bloody Bess”

Posted by DCA Theater on May 30, 2008 in January-June 2008 Season, Bloody Bess

“Vengeance is a dish best served cold.”
      -Pierre Ambriose Francois Choderios de LaClos (1741-1803)

“Rum all out ... Rogues’ a’plottin ...”
      -Blackbeard (1680 – 1718)

Directing Bloody Bess has been a wonderful and exciting opportunity to explore the themes of Family, how sometimes the best families are not the ones you are born into, but the ones you make for yourself, and Revenge, what price you are willing to pay for satisfaction.  Here we find a woman stripped of everything she had come to rely upon, everything that was familiar and safe, and in her darkest moments finds within herself the strength of character, the capacity for leadership, and the drive for satisfaction that will lead her into a life that she never imagined.  In Bloody Bess, audiences will find rich and colorful characters, stunning swashbuckling spectacle, and powerful themes that will cause us all to question what we would do if we were in Bess’s boots.