The Rover; or, The Banished Cavaliers
A comedy in five acts by Aphra Behn, premiered in 1677
Note: I prepared the following summary for the play-reading committee. It has not been sanctioned.
Performance dates: March 28-30 and April 3-6, 2003
With auditions Feb. 3 and 4
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The action is set at Mardi Gras time in the 1650s in Naples, then ruled by Spain.
The cast: 12 men plus extras, 7 women plus extras
- Some Englishmen who for the time being can't go home again:
- Belvile, a colonel. He loves Florinda.
- Willmore, a rover (sea captain, probably more than a touch piratical). He falls in love with Hellena.
- Frederick, a gentleman, ex-soldier, and Belvile’s friend.
- Blunt, not the shiniest knife in the drawer. He’s horny all the time.
- Some Spanish guys:
- Don Antonio, the Viceroy's son, who wants to marry Florinda.
- Don Pedro, his friend and Florinda's brother.
- Stephano, Pedro's servant.
- Diego, Antonio's page.
- The Spanish ladies:
- Florinda, Pedro's sister, a real prize. Her father has promised her hand to old Don Vincentio, but her brother is maneuvering to marry her to Antonio. In the meantime she's fallen hard for Belvile.
- Hellena, her sister. Their father has told her to join a convent; she has other ideas. She meets Willmore at Mardi Gras and picks him for a last fling, at least, or a husband if things fall out that way.
- Valeria, a relative of Florinda and Hellena.
- Callis, governess or chaperone or duenna to Florinda and Hellena.
- Some disreputable locals:
- Angellica Bianca, a top-drawer prostitute.
- Moretta, the woman who stays with her and helps out.
- Biskey and Sebastian, Angellica's doorkeepers, so to speak.
- Lucetta, more your budget prostitute.
- Sancho, her pimp.
- Phillippo, her "gallant."
- Others: soldiers, servants, officers, messengers, Mardi Gras paraders.
The story, in a highly condensed version:
Florinda and Hellena talk over the one’s planned marriage and the other’s future life as a nun. They both want to make their own choices, and Mardi Gras seems as good a time as any.
Frederick, Belvile and Blunt discuss how hard it is to get (a) money and (b) laid. Captain Willmore arrives with some (a) and an urge to get (b). They learn one of the local customs: You hire top whores by the month. Dressed as a gypsy, Hellena conquers Willmore’s heart while Lucetta spots Blunt as a mark. Florinda makes a date with Belvile for that night.
Angellica posts her picture as an advertisement. All the English want her, but the price is a thousand crowns none of them has. Willmore steals the picture and gets in without paying. The news upsets Hellena, who engages in a battle of wits with him.
Lucetta summons Blunt to her place. She puts the goods on display, and when he is undressed she springs a trap, dropping him into the sewer and stealing his stuff. Blunt reappears, raging against all women and swearing revenge on the sex.
Florinda goes to the garden to meet Belvile, but Willmore and Frederick show up too and threaten to rape her. Pedro rescues her and Antonio takes a flesh wound in the confused melee. Antonio by now has bought Angellica’s services for the month; Pedro, incensed, challenges him to a duel. [This is where it gets complicated.] Weakened by his wound, Antonio asks Belvile to wear a disguise and sub for him. Pedro is impressed by Antonio’s bravery and awards Florinda to him; of course it’s Belvile, and he hurriedly makes arrangements for the wedding. Angellica appears, armed and threatening to murder Willmore, who is now in full-throated pursuit of Hellena, and vice versa. After a most unpleasant scene with Blunt (who is now fully dressed, only in Spanish styles because no English tailor could be found), Florinda weds the disguised Belvile. All disguises come off. Pedro resigns himself to both matches. Frederick has meanwhile hooked up with Valeria, by the way. The play comes to an extravagantly happy ending.
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Summary