The method of acting

HOT SPRINGS – A group of women gathered in the Sun Room of the Symes Hotel Sunday afternoon to audition for the production of Scarlet Ribbons. The playwright was done by Hot Springs local Susan Faye Roberts formerly of Butte, Montana.

The play depicts the stories of seven prostitutes circa 1890s who live and work in the Dumas Brothel in Butte, one of many Old West mining towns. Roberts emphasized the play is not about sex but rather the characters that represent many real women of that period in time.

The characters are Morgan, Sarah, Ruby, Bonnie, Chin Lee, Babette and the Dumas Madame - Maddy.

Morgan is a young Irish woman forced into the industry when the man of her dreams tossed her into the streets. Sarah was married with three children when her husband tragically died in a mining accident as so many did. With three mouths to feed, she fell into prostitution to put bread on the table.

The character of Ruby is a freed slave who has come to find that freedom does not solve all of life’s problems. Bonnie is a drunk with a good deal of bitterness in her heart. She was abandoned by the man with whom she had a child out of wedlock. Chin Lee is a Chinese-American immigrant who was brought to this country at 11 years old for the sole purpose of prostitution.

Babette is the seductress and was taught by her father that the greatest power she possessed was her womanly wiles. She takes this to heart and, despite her obvious intelligence and love of Shakespeare, only values herself for her ability to control men. Maddy is the Madame over all of these women and has 38 years in the industry. She is the only motherly figure the others have.

Together, the seven women tell the tale of a lesser-known history of the West, a history of feminism. These women took the first step towards liberation by supporting themselves, but the play does not shy away from the heartbreaking circumstance the characters find themselves in.

Roberts herself held the auditions and is directing. The play ran in Butte in June of 2007 with great success and standing ovations every night. Roberts has since re-worked the script in order to add more character interaction. She has also been working on a screenplay and is about 60 pages in.

The auditions were not typical. The hopeful actresses were not simply given a script and asked to read. Roberts gave a detailed description of each charterer and then proceeded to ask each woman what character she gravitated towards.

“I want people to emotionally connect to these women,” Roberts said. “I am fascinated with method acting which is emotionally connecting to the character.”

So, in the end the actresses chose the roles they believed were right for them.

Rehearsals are set to take six weeks with a lot of one-on-one training with Roberts to really emotionally delve into the roles.

“I am excited and look forward to the process,” Roberts said.

The show will be in April at the Symes Hotel in Hot Springs. Due to the mature content of the production, parental discretion is advised.

Proceeds go to restoring the historical Dumas Brothel building in Butte, Montana.