Abstract
Abstract “Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Goes Strolling” reflects on my process of writing, self-directing, and performing a forty-five-minute monologue, Lady in a Veil. The monologue foregrounds the life of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, her writing, and her introduction to Britain of the Turkish way of smallpox inoculation, which she championed from 1721—over seventy years before Jenner's trials with vaccination. In the following reflection, I describe the provenance and rationale of Lady in a Veil, its accidental timeliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the choices I made as a writer, an eighteenth-century scholar, a feminist, and a performer of a certain age. I also consider the effect of audiences and audience feedback on the monologue's development, along with the challenges and benefits of transferring a solo show, designed for, and performed in, historic houses and libraries, to Zoom.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Theatre Research
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
