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The Way of the World and Playhouse Creatures
“filth, smut and scandalous entertainment”... has theatre changed?
William Congreve’s The Way of the World, first performed in 1700, scandalised theatregoers by focusing on sexual intrigue and money-chasing. Secrets shared, promises broken, prior understandings confronted, friendships betrayed: in this regard, The Way of the World immediately reminded us of Reality TV – which, as we know, is anything but real. A restoration script reimagined in our own time, echoing the secrets and scandals we see on our screens in Traitors, TOWIE and Made in Chelsea. This sent us on a quest, not only to make Congreve’s wordplay feel comprehensible to a modern audience, but also to use a live-feed camera to play with our perceptions of what’s actually going on…
Equally controversial was the first appearance of women on the theatre stage, portrayed in April De Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures. In it, we follow the first female acting troupe of the Restoration period after permission for them to appear on the public stage had been granted. The licence to play both liberated and entrapped many actors, making them famous, but limiting their freedoms, not least in exposing them to a predatory male gaze. The characters in De Angelis’ text are based on real events, real court scandals, and real personalities, some of whom were in the original cast of Congreve’s The Way of the World!
We invite you to come along and enjoy the performances of these texts, between 20th May - 23rd May 2026 at the UEA Drama Studio, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ.
Tickets are available via the links below with prices ranging from £5 - £10.
For any enquiries contact us: scandalous.entertainment2026@gmail.com
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This amateur production of “Playhouse Creatures” is presented by arrangement with
Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd.