THE ROVER

THE ROVER

By Aphra Behn

Performed at Mottisfont Abbey on 21st to 30th July, 1988

Cast in order of appearance

Belville	Brian Stansbridge
Frederick	Iain Coleman
Blunt	John Souter
Willmore	John Carrington Jnr
Lucetta	Hazel Burrows
Sancho	Alan Watson
Florinda	Catherine Nolan
Valeria	Siân Turner
Hellena	Philippa Venn
Don Pedro	Jim SmiTh
Stephano	Huw Thomas
Callis	Sheana Carrington
Angellica Bianca	Ros Liddlard
Moretta	Meri Lawther
Sebastian	Matty West
Biskey	Derek Sealey
Don Antonio	Malcolm Brown
Diego	Andrew Burrows
Philippo	David Bartlett

The Carnival

Matador	Heidi Sheehan
Bull	Alan Watson
Dancer	Loo White
‘Roses’	Maria Hutchings, Sophie Price, Angela Stansbridge
With	Mary Andrade, Georgina Bance, Miriam Bance, Jane Britt, Janet Cairney, Julia Campone, Emma Carington, Gemma Crane, Claire Dobson, Robert Dobson, Emma Jacobs, Susannah Lawther, Davey McKee, Debbie Moorehouse, Adrian Pike, Vicky Rickman, Jane Sealy, Amy Stansbride, Tom Stansbridge, Jan Ward, Kate Ward, Samantha Wareham, Alice Watson, Ellen Watson, Jenni Watson, Lucy White, Becky White
The Musicians	Siobhan Nelson, Chris Nelson, Chris Monks, Milton Grimleigh

For theMaskers

Director	Peter White
Production assistant	Hazel Burrows
Stage Manager	Angela Barks
assisted by Sue	Cunningham
Properties	Ella Lockett
Special Properties	Peter Liddiard
Lighting	Tony Lawther, Cilve Weeks
Sound	Anthony Baldery
Pyrotechnics	Mike Jones
Circus Techniques	Andrew Harris
Photography	Hilary Bowen

Aphra Behn (1640-89)

Aphra Behn was an English playwright, novelist and poet. Her position as England’s first professional authoress has overshadowed her genuine abilities as a dramatist. She was brought up in Guiana, where her father was lieutenant-governor. In England she married a wealthy Dutch merchant, but by 1666 was reduced to a state of penniless widowhood. After this she worked for a time as a government spy in the Low Countries, though her only reward appears to have been a period of imprisonment for debt. After her release, Aphra Behn turned to writing to support herself and in the eighteen years from 1671 produced fifteen plays, as well as novels and poetry.

Her most successful dramatic work was The Rover (1677) and the comedy was frequently revived during the following century. Much of Aphra Behn’s work has been criticised for its coarseness, but it is important to see this as a reflection of a quite extraordinarily coarse age. It would be fairer to view her as a fiercely independent spirit and writer of real talent and warmth, the first woman playwright to live by her own lights and make her way in a man’s profession.