Rose Napoli’s “Mad Madge” is the OG 17th-century influencer

I’ve followed Rose Napoli’s work for years, and after seeing her standout, jaw-dropping performance as Catherine de Medici in Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman at Soulpepper Theatre last fall, I was intrigued and delighted to connect with her to discuss her new play, Mad Madge.

Acclaimed as a beacon of theatrical creativity and audacity, Napoli is an award-winning playwright, actor, and television writer. Her vast experience has included taking on a wide range of stage roles, writing for CityTV’s Hudson & Rex in the show’s sixth season, and developing notable new works. Following Mad Madge, her next work in development, titled After the Rain (co-commissioned and co-developed by Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Company) will be presented at the inaugural Canadian Festival of New Musicals in May. 

A woman who did it way before Britney

Mad Madge is a restoration romantic comedy receiving its world premiere April 9 – 21. It introduces audiences to Margaret Cavendish, a real-life 17th-century poet, philosopher and scandal-maker who is a woman of many talents, yet master of none. Though Madge may not even be able to spell, she is driven by a relentless quest for fame, so she abandons her chaotic family life for the even more chaotic court. With the help of a bastard brother, an unruly Queen and a weepy musketeer, Margaret learns that it is possible to have it all – and sets out to etch her name into the annals of history. 

This modern-period hybrid play suggests that a woman’s desire for recognition might not be as superficial as it appears. A Nightwood Theatre production in association with VideoCabaret, Mad Madge is directed by Andrea Donaldson and features Napoli as Margaret, plus actors Karl Ang, Wayne Burns, Izad Etemadi, Farhang Ghajar and Nancy Palk. 

Napoli’s fascination with Margaret Cavendish and her decision to center Mad Madge on her story began with her desire to write a “raucous comedy about female rage”: “I was curious about the woman who threw the chair off the condo balcony onto the Gardiner Expressway. What would drive someone to do such a thing?” Taking to that woman’s social media, Napoli found herself perplexed by the ways that she and other women were packaging themselves on these social media platforms. 

“And of course, at the time, there were many famous women in the zeitgeist who were being driven to a kind of madness by the media. At the same time, I was reading Danielle Dutton’s lovely novella on Margaret Cavendish. And I was instantly taken by Margaret.” Dutton’s book prompted Napoli to read more about and by Cavendish, whom she describes as “the OG influencer, unapologetic about her desire for fame” and “nicknamed Mad Madge”. Napoli’s exploration showed her that Cavendish was a woman centuries ahead of her time in her shameless ambition for fame: “I thought, my God, we’ve been doing this WAY before Britney. We’ve been doing this since the 17th century!”

Mad Madge promises to be an unconventional theatre experience that blends humour, romance, and thoughtful commentary on the pursuit of fame. “Like Hulu’s The Great or Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, the show is aiming for entertainment and truth, not historical accuracy,” Napoli states. In this, she is playing to her own sensibilities – and Margaret’s:  “I don’t have any interest in being lectured when I’m at the theatre. I go for the story. And my favourite playwrights are able to serve the message underneath the narrative. Margaret was known for making her own rules, so I’ve done the same.” 

Her evidence is this: “We’re in 17th century England and the climax of the show is a television interview. Nancy Palk plays my eleven year old sister, the Queen of England, and Samuel Pepys! And Izad Etemadi is our mother.” The bottom line is simple: Napoli is committed to making audiences “laugh out loud and fall in love and think about the pursuit of fame. And if they love Margaret enough afterward to go and learn more about her, then I will be a happy playwright.” 

Acting, then writing . . .then writing and acting

Of course at this time, Napoli was preparing to embody Mad Madge. It was an ideal moment for us to discuss the profound connection between her twin talents of writing and acting. 

It turns out that the moment that catalyzed her playwriting was one that many actors can resonate with: being typecast. The twist for Napoli? Being typecast was less a limitation than a springboard. “In theatre school, I was told that there were two kinds of actresses, those who play Juliet, and those who play the Nurse. I was told that I would never be Juliet because she was meant to be played by a ‘knockout’.” Years later, Napoli beat the typecasting when she found herself playing Juliet at the Citadel Theatre (in the first of three productions of Romeo and Juliet that she would eventually do). Yet she distinctly remembers feeling, “Is this it?”. 

“I was inspired and vindicated,” she explains, “but I certainly didn’t feel complete.” This is the exact moment that led her to write her first play. “My creative life cracked open after that. I felt autonomy and power. I had a voice. I became less desperate in auditions.” And at the same time, “I became a better actor because of writing,” Napoli asserts. 

That said, performing once again in her own play has been a journey of discovery. She wrote her first few plays expressly for herself to act in, but found the process stressful. “And I ultimately felt that I wasn’t doing my best work in either regard. I was not fully present onstage because I was always rewriting in my head. And I couldn’t possibly attend to the writing while I was also having to be a performer in the show.” In retrospect, she sees clearly that this was too much to put on herself so early in her writing career. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve performed in my own work,” she admits, while acknowledging both the challenges and rewards of bringing her characters to life on stage. “And even though I’ve grown since then, Andrea Donaldson (who is directing) and I were not always certain that I would play this part. We had a number of workshops where some incredible actresses came in and played Margaret.” Napoli smiles, “And I am under no delusion that I am the only person who could play her. But there is something about her voice, her sense of humour, and her vulnerability that just simply, by virtue of it coming from me, feels right being played by me. This version of Margaret Cavendish is already a version of me, the playwright. 

“It got to a point where Andrea said, ‘if you’re going to do it, Rose, go all in!’.” 

Final thoughts

And Napoli is “all in” not only on Mad Madge, but on uplifting other talents within the theatre community. She highlights Elena Eli Belyea as a playwright to watch, praising Belyea’s writing as “funny, touching, and smart”, and expressing eagerness for their works to be showcased in Toronto.

As we near the end of the interview, Napoli emphasizes the importance of sustainability and creativity in theatre production. She expresses tremendous pride in the sustainable approach taken by Mad Madge’s “magical” design team for the show’s extensive costume needs. Napoli estimates that Astrid Janson and her team are building more than 50 costumes to be changed in and out of in a literal flash – and they are doing it all sustainably: “We have bought nothing new for the show! It feels so right to be making a show about excess, while being conscious of our world at the same time,” she remarks. 

“I’m so proud.”

Mad Madge is on stage April 9 – 21, 2024 at The Theatre Centre. Post-show talkbacks are offered on Friday April 12, Saturday April 13 (matinee), Tuesday April 16, Wednesday April 17, and Friday April 19. Reserve tickets here.

© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2024