Brides in the Bath with Renaissance

There’s a picture of George Joseph Smith. There's no malice in the portrait. One could imagine him being a nice guy when he was alive in the early 20th century. He’s got a big bushy mustache. There’s a casual gleam in his eye. Maybe a bit of weariness in his eyes. He’d have good reason to be exhausted. He’d committed to a series of homicides which ultimately saw him hanged by the neck until death in England in 1915. In the course of the early 20th century he had entered into some seven bigamous marriages before robbing the women in question of their wealth. Three of them were drowned in bathtubs. 

It’s easy to focus-in on the dark mystery of someone who would kill so many people. It’s easy to overlook the plight of the victims. This week Renaissance Theaterworks takes a look at three of the victims as it presents The Drowning Girls--a three-person drama written by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, Daniela Vlaskalic, Mallory Metoxen. Marcee Doherty-Elst, Susie Duecker and Elyse Edelman appear onstage in chaacter fresh from the bathtubs where those characters were murdered. They have stories to tell on the intimate stage of a Studio Theatre. Mallory Metoxen directs the drama in which the three actresses play multiple roles in an effort to explore three women who might have done nothing worse than meet and marry the wrong man. It’s fall. A chill may finally be emerging from the impending end of the year. It’s the perfect time for a cozy meeting with a few women who were forcibly put to death with water a little over 100 years ago. 

Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of The Drowning Girls runs Oct. 21 - Nov. 13 in the Studio Theatre, at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. For ticket reservations and more visit Renaissance Theaterworks online.