Staged Reading of Galatea by John Lyly - Iambic Lab 2023

Performed before Queen Elizabeth I in 1588, this Renaissance play about a queer—potentially trans—love story lives at the intersection of myth and romance. The play opens with a father and son onstage, the father explaining that every five years the village of Lincolnshire must sacrifice its most beautiful virgin to one of Neptune’s monsters. Next, we learn that the son is in fact a daughter, Galatea, and that her father has disguised her in order to escape this fate by hiding in the forest. Two scenes later a second father and daughter, Philida, are introduced to us with the same plan. Galatea and Philida meet in the woods, fall in love while dressed as men, and get caught in the divine crossfire between Diana, Venus, and Cupid. An argument between gods, the problem of unemployment, and the transgressive love at the heart of this play all come to a head before an improbable transformation promises to resolve all. Deftly exploring love, and how we come to inhabit and understand our own genders, Galatea is delightful, insightful, and surprisingly modern.

Join us for a staged reading of this incredible play, featuring an introduction from scholar Dr. Juan Lamata.