The+Gut+Girls

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William McKinley Whitney Slipp Peter Morrison Jessica Davidson Ryan Hebert

Common Questions 1) __Sarah Daniels- Biography and Other Works__ - Daniels is a lesbian, feminist, British playwright whose reviews vary greatly depending on the gender of the critic (women tend to praise her; men tend to criticize). Influenced by radical feminist and writer Andrea Dworkin, her work has been called the "venom-spitting virago of radical feminist theatre," and she has been referred to as "man-hating," "savage," and "wrathful," but she has also been called a "a spirited, anarchically funny, angry young writer." She has won two major awards: "Most Promising Playwright" award, and the George Devine Award for "Neaptide." Her plays have been published in the //Methuem World Classics// series (Aston). - Daniels' plays generally revolve around feminist themes, with her 1980's plays focusing on the injustices of a man-made world and her 1990's plays focusing on how women joined together to face the forces opposing them- female solidarity (Debling). One of her most common themes is abuse and how women are rarely granted the opportunity to achieve closure in these situations, something which is evident when examining how Daniel's plays rarely have satisfying endings (Griffin). - Other Plays: => "Masterpieces" (1983) => "Byrthrite" (1986) => "Neaptide" (1986) => "Beside Herself" (1990) => "Head-Rot Holliday" (1992) => "The Madness of Esme and Shaz" (1994) => "The Devil's Gateway" Most of these plays were first performed in alternative venues, not in mainstream playhouses and many have been the victim of a right-wing press that is sharply critical of this type of play (Aston).

More info on William McKinley wiki

--Ryan--- (Bakker, Pamela: 'Sarah Daniels') (see my page for complete citation.)

Born on November 21 1957 in London, Daniels attempted her first play twenty-three years later almost by chance. Bored by the job she had at the time, she responded to an advertisement in //Time Out//, the magazine of the Royal Court Theatre in London, requesting manuscripts from new writers. Encouraged by the Royal Court literary manager's positive response to the play she submitted, she quickly developed several more. Her first two productions were staged in the summer of 1981. //Penumbra// was produced at the University Drama Studio at the University of Sheffield, where she was writer in residence in the English literature department. //Ripen Our Darkness// was produced at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs.

Equally characteristic of Daniels is the resilience she has shown in the face of constant vilification of her work by critics. While her plays are not beyond criticism- she fully admits for example to overambition and to leaving issues unresolved in her plots- it is apparent that, even by the strictest theatrical standards, she is a playwright more sinned against than sinning. She has continued through the years to extend the perimeters of her dramaturgy and to offer audiences complex theatrical experiences that place the female experience center stage. -In addition to writing for the stage, Daniels also has written for radio and television, including the popular BBC series Grange Hill and Eastenders. She was writer in residence at the Royal Court Theatre in 1984 and has been a visiting lecturer at universities both in Britain and abroad. Her plays have appeared in Japan, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Germany, and Ireland.

-Since her two plays were produced in 1981, Sarah Daniels has become one of Britain's leading feminist playwrights. Her success has, however, been tinged by controversy and, often, by extreme critical backlash.

-Carole Woddis' description of the playwright in //The Bloomsbury Theatre Guide// (1988) as "the only radical lesbian feminist to have made it into mainstream" may help to explain the source of her notoriety.

-While the radical stance is apparent in her work, it is more a reflection of society's values at the time of her writting, rather than a deliberate attempt to disseminate a particular brand of feminist theory. She (Daniels) has said "I don't read a book about some theory, and then think, oh, put the theory in the play." In the introduction to //Plays: One// (1991), Daniels tried to quash any process of labeling that might marginalize her work: "Feminism is now, like a panty-girdle, a very embarassing word. Once seen as liberating, it is now considered to be restrictive, passe/, and undesirable to wear. I didn't set out to further the cause of Feminism. However, I am proud some of my plays have added to it's influence."

2) __The Guts Girls- The Play; The History__ - "The Gut Girls" was first staged in 1988 at the South East London venue: the Albany Empire, Deptford (not a mainstream playhouse- Aston). Since then it has been performed at numerous venues, most notably the Deptford Dockyards from June 20- July 8, 2002 where it was described as a play "to be recommended although it is not for vegetarians" (David & Olwen Perrett). This setting is notable because it is the actual setting of the play and the location of the gutting sheds where the gut girls worked. - Quotes of Note => "The play dramatizes the process whereby independent women, considered by the rest of society to be social outcasts, misfits unable to perform in traditional forms of wife, mother, or mistress, are tamed and thus made socially acceptable or marketable..." (Haedicke, 83)

--Ryan--- (Bakker, Pamela: 'Sarah Daniels') p.118: -Daniels' goal in the early to mid 1980's was to bring the voices of contemporary women to the stage; in the latter part of the decade she turned to history's forgotten female voices. //Byrthrite// deals with the torture and killing of 'witches' in seventeenth century England; //**The Gut Girls**// is set in the slaughterhouses in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Deptford- and attempts to paint a historically accurate picture of the ordinary women attempting to break free from physical, social, and economic restraints. Both plays challenge traditionally male representations of history by dramatizing aspects of women's lives in past eras. -...both //Byrthrite// and //The Gut Girls// demonstrate not only that women are crucial in the 'making' of history as men, but that their urge to record and understand it was equally ambitious. -each play boasts an abundance of historical details that delineates the social and economic conditions under which women lived in the era depicted. Certain characters, Especially in //**The Gut Girls**//, are based on actual historical figures. -Daniels develops a snapshot approach by successfully highlighting then fading individual or group portraits of characters. -Daniels goal in both plays is to dramaticize women's contributions to the shaping of movements, events, and ideas of their times. More info on Ryan Hubert wiki

__Jessica Davidson__ - The play was performed recently by students of the Manchester School of Theatre, and directed by Teddy Kiendl. The show ran from June 3, 2009 to June 6, 2009 in the Capitol Theatre. Described as "Humane and hugely funny!" by the Financial Times ([]). - A good synopsis of the play is provided by reviewer Robi Polgar. >The gut girls are brash, foul-mouthed, beer-swilling cockneys, mostly from desperate economic straits and dangerous pasts, but full of pride as working girls. When Lady Helena, an erudite widow from the upper class, makes it her mission to tame these girls and find them more ladylike employment -- as god-fearing waiting women -- the well-meaning dowager is as welcome as a temperance speaker at the local pub. Sarah Daniels' play is almost rudimentary in its plot: Of course Lady Helena winds up taking charge of the girls, and of course a shift in abattoir technology leaves the girls jobless, with little choice but to forsake their freedom for a life of servitude. The choices are anathema: the street, prison, marriage, or, worst, assimilation. Of the five girls in this story, each grapples with change to little avail. - Performances have also taken place at the Connecticut Repertory Theater (depicted below) and the Playhouse Cheltenham (Nov. 2008). More details on Jessica Davidson's information on her wiki



__**Some History Behind the Gut Girls**__ -Peter Morrison

The play 'The Gut Girls' takes place in Deptford England in the early 1900's. The storyline involves woman who, around that time, worked in slaughterhouses in the Dockyard of that town. According to several sources, the setting and the characters in the play are historically accurate to that of the actual slaughterhouses of Deptford in the 1900's. It is interesting to note that the woman or 'The Gut Girls' were actual people and were well renowned around that area. At this particular time in history woman had a lot fewer roles to play than they do today as far as how they would provide for their families and themselves. The Gut Girls however seemed to be one of the few exceptions. These strong independent woman made more money in one week working at the slaughterhouses than a house wife or maid might make in an entire year! This was almost unheard of at this time as woman were not considered money makers or providers for their families. After seeing Sarah Daniels obvious interest in feminist issues, it is clear why she chose these particular females to focus on for her play. Over 500 woman were employed at these slaughterhouses during this time. I assume the play takes place around the demise of the Foreign Cattle Market. In the play, these formally independent woman were being forced to live, what the majority of the populous at the time would agree, was a more 'female oriented' role such as maids for the middle-upper class. Most of what Sarah Daniels describes of the setting and the characters in her play is historically accurate. It displays a rather early example of what woman are indeed capable of as far as breaching their dependence on men and surviving independently.

"In 1869 the government introduced the Cattle Diseases Prevention Act". (see London Metropolitan Archives below) This meant that all imported animals must be slaughtered upon their arrival at the Dockyard as oppose to being sent inland to a butcher shop where the slaughtering would normally take place. This was done in order to prevent the spread of disease that may have been brought to England from whatever foreign land the animals came from. It was because of this Act that the Gut Girls were able to become employed. Pens for 4000 cattle and 12000 sheep spanned over twenty-three acres as Deptford became a predominant Cattle Market in Europe at the time.

[|London Metropolitan Archives] Other sources listed on Peter Morrison's page

3) __Deptford- Looking at the Setting__ - Formerly a center of naval trade, exploration, and military endeavors, the dockyards were in decline by the turn of the 19th century as larger ships were unable to navigate the Thames River. The City of London Corporation's Foreign Cattle Market took up residence in the area beginning in 1871, but this too began to fade around 1910 (from 234,000 to under 40,000) and it is in this environment that Sarah Daniel's play is set. This provides an economic explanation for why the gut girls are eventually laid off and must search for other forms of employment or husbands who will support them. Since the time period of the play, the area was used as a supply depot during the World Wars, but has not experienced any significant development since. Depicted below are the oldest remaining buildings at the site of the Deptford Dockyards (built approx. 1846- adapted from Wikipedia).

Deptford Dockyard (Convyoy's wharf)- Greater London Industrial Archeology Society (see wikipedia, follow ref #18) On its closure in 1869 the Royal Naval Dockyard at Deptford became the City of London's Foreign Cattle Market. Cattle from abroad were landed and slaughtered in their millions in the former dockyard buildings. The butchers in the slaughterhouses along with the girls who processed the joints became local characters. The Gut girls, in particular, were renown not only for their crude language and manners including heavy drinking but also for the colourful hats that they wore. Their behaviour at weekends became notorious in London. Girls in service in the West End deserted to this highly paid trade in the market. This fact probably more then their behaviour led to a mission for their 'salvation' to be established. The building, Lady Florence Institute, still stands in Deptford Broadway.

The market in turn closed in 1913 although it continued to be shown on A-Z maps of London until the 1980s! It was then used by the war department from 1914 and remained in Ministry use until after the Second World War. From 1984 it was owned by News International, who used the site for newsprint imports. The two surviving 1840s shipsheds, visited by GLIAS in the 1980s, were ideal for storage of the massive rolls of newsprint. The Convoy's site is now up for redevelopment and the buildings are empty but an unusual opportunity to enter the site is to occur this summer. From June 20 to July 8 a local theatre group have permission to perform a play called the Gut Girls inside the Wharf in, I presume, the ship sheds. This play, which has been performed a number of times locally over the past few years is to be recommended although it is not for vegetarians. When it was performed at our local pub theatre, the Brockley Jack, there was an awful lot of offal on the stage! //David and Olwen Perrett

4)// __English Slaughterhouses__ - Between 1850 and 1910, England's slaughterhouses saw a massive advancement in the technology used to carry out their bloody task. Prior to this point, the slaughtering of cattle and other animals took place in smaller slaughterhouses (like the gutting sheds) and was a labor intensive task. However, as technology increased, manpower (or womanpower) was replaced by machinery which led to the closure of the small-scale slaughterhouses and the triumph of large-scale slaughter factories (Otter). - A special point of interest is that one of the reasons that led to this transformation were ethical concerns about children (and, I hypothesize, women) witnessing the gory task (Otter).

__Sources Consulted__ - Aston, Elaine. "Daniels in the Lion's Den: Sarah Daniels and the British Backlash." //Theatre Journal//. 47, no. 3 (Oct. 1995): 393-403. -Bakker, Pamela. "Sarah Daniels". British and Irish Dramatists since World War II, Third Series. Detroit, MI: GAle, 2001. xxix, 417pp. (Detroit, MI: Dictionary of Literary Biography 245, 2001). - Bartlett, Carina. "Sarah Daniels' Hysteria Plays: Re-presentations of Madness in Ripen Our Darkness and Head-Rot Holiday." //Modern Drama//. 46, no. 2 (Summer 2003): 241-260. - Debling, Heather. "'How Will They Ever Heal...?' Bearing Witness to Abuse and the Importance of Female Community in Sarah Daniels' //'Beside Herself,' 'Head-Rot Holiday,' and 'The Madness of Esme and Shaz.'" Modern Drama//. 51, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 259-273. - Griffin, Gabrielle. "Violence, abuse, and gender relations in the plays of Sarah Daniels." //The Cambridge Companion to modern British women playwrights//. Eds. Elaine Aston, Janelle G. Reinelt: 194-210. - Haedicke, Susan C. "Doing the Dirty Work: Gendered Versions of Working Class Women in Sarah Daniel's "Gut Girls" and Israel Horovitz's "North Shore Fish." //Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism// (Sping 1994): 77-88. - Otter, Christopher. "Civilizing Slaughter: the Development of the British Public Abattoir, 1850-1910." //Food and History//. 3, no. 2 (2005): 29-51. - Wikipedia, "Deptford." - Wikipedia, "Convoy's Wharf."

My question is why would they not have employed men at this time- It was answered by the fact that women were probably cheaper to hire and men would have to be paid more. But in this case, how are these women still allowed to make an exhorbitant amount of money without attracting men who would want to work in their places, even for the same amount of money?

Jessica Davidson

I understand that __Sarah Daniels__ is a feminist but besides having that knowledge (and I may have missed this in your research) but does it give reason as to why she is drawn to this story or wanted to write a play about this situation?

Brooke McGovern

What would this topic/theme look like if the writer was not a woman? How would a man have attempted to look at this theme? I ask these questions, though rhetorical in nature, since we are discussing the fact that Daniels was a woman and a feminist. I find this era of women studies (late 19th century) fascinating and in contrast to Frost/Nixon, the events of the story grips me not just the characters themselves. I am very excited to see how this play is presented because I think the visual and tangible experience is very necessary to the story, as was mentioned in class the other night. The information that is given to the audience is crucial in regards to the history of the times in which this takes place. The fact that the author is a feminist might not be the most important factor but is an interesting point as it will colour the way in which we view the drama on stage. As an audience member I want to be caught up in the moments of these women and even consider how this movement in the early 1900s has changed society's view towards women. What do you think then as a group is the best information that will set the background for the audience-- the event or the author's viewpoint?

Ang Moore

I'm curious about the playwright. You mentioned that she got a lot of backlash about much of her work, and I was wondering what kind exactly. What were people saying about her work that was so critical? What was it that they didn't like? Her sexuality is also mentioned a couple of times, and i was wondering whether you guys thought that that is somehow significant to the interpretation of her plays.

Laurie MacKenzie

My question kind of relates to the one above this one, I would like to know more about the playwright, but specifically about her feminist background. Is she a self-proclaimed femininst? Is she an activist? This may be personal curiosity, or it may also be evident to why she writes about feminist subjects. Maybe with a little background, we can better understand her motives in her scripts.

Michelle Chisholm

I'm curious about perhaps what the men of the period would have been doing at this time, how they would have reacted to the women working, etc. What kind of work would they have been doing? Why did the women decide to work in the slaughterhouses instead of doing other types of work?

Kylee French

I would also like to know more about the men and history of rate of pay compared to men and servants back in that time. I would also like to know about what type of work and revolutions were taking place during this period.

Laura Graham

I think Ang's point about mentioning the feminist may cause an initial interpretation effecting the audiences thoughts about the play. it could benefit their understanding, but might take away from their own interpretation of the play.. not sure how that situation may play out for the audience.

Charles Lindsay

It was a bit unclear from the research, but you mentioned that over 500 women were employed in the slaughterhouses... Were they actually the only workers or is that number only referring to the women because of the oddity of it? The way you have it worded now, sounds like only women were employed there and as the play has a male boss, that seems unlikely. Do you think you can find a ratio of men to women employed? I agree 500 is a powerful amount, but I think knowing how many women to men working could be a great contrast as well.

Iya Downey

I'm curious about the backgrounds of the women who worked in the slaughterhouses. Was it an exercise in freedom for them - were they single and earning their own living? Or were they wives who had to find work so their families could get by? Was it both?

Mare Spence