Lucrezia Borgia Stage Play

I came across a couple of reviews for a 1997 stage play, Lions and Foxes: The Life of Lucrezia Borgia.

The OOBR (Off-Off-Broadway-Review) says:

As Lucrezia Borgia, Quiche Kemble's performance was something of a tour de force: she was on stage for almost the entire play. As playwright, Ms. Kemble has emphasized how little is really known about Lucrezia. Perhaps she was not the monster most people seem to have believed her to be, perhaps she was. This ambivalence is reflected in the play and to some extent in Ms. Kemble's performance.

And according to CurtainsUp:

The result is a 5-character play focusing on the life of Lucrezia Borgia between 1497, when she was 18 years old, pregnant and about to be married for the third time to her death at age 39 (a not so unusually young age for the period). And guess what? This Lucrezia, while something of a licentious silly goose apparently none the worse for years of incestuous relations with her brother Cesare and her father (Pope Alexander VI), emerges as a gifted and right-minded ruler, and heroic fighter for woman's right to free will. A far cry from Donizetti's opera based on the same character!

Congratulations, Emily Charouhas!

One of my fellow students in the College of the Canyons New Works Festival class is 12-year-old Emily Charouhas. Her stage play, Mr. Furnettle and the Christmas Debacle, will be staged in March along with the other plays written by adults.

The submission process was blind, so Emily was accepted because of her talent and not her age. We're all very proud of her, and excited to share the class with such a gifted prodigy.

Emily is also an accomplished actress, with several television credits. I was not surprised to learn that Emily had a background in acting. Many of our greatest playwrights were also actors.

William Shakespeare, for example.

Now Emily's story has appeared in our local newspaper, The Signal:

"While most junior high school students probably prefer to spend their free time listening to music, watching their favorite movies and TV shows, and hanging out with friends, Emily Charouhas likes to sing, act and write award-winning plays - a passion that has landed the 12-year-old student at College of the Canyons for the winter session."

You can read the article here.

Congratulations, Emily!