Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes explained

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes
Setting:	2014
Genre:	Comedy
Subject:	Teacher-student affair
Orig Lang:	English
Place:	Tarragon Theatre
Characters:	Annie Jon Macklem
Director:	Sarah Garton Stanley
Award:	Governor General's Literary Award

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is a 2020 play written by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch. It is the winner of the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for English-language drama. The play was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2021.

Plot

After his third divorce, a novelist and star lecturer is tortured with self-loathing when he notices himself liking a pupil — a girl in a red coat. The girl turns out to be a major fan of his work and who just so happens to live down the street from him.

Dates, venues, and companies

Following a first reading in the United States, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes has been performed for audiences in Canada and in Australia.

• 2017 - Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, Washington (first reading)^[1]
• 2020 - Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, Ontario (premiere)
• 2021 - Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, Melbourne, Australia (Melbourne Theatre Company)

Canadian crew

The play had its first reading in June 2017 at the Seattle Repertory Theatre in Seattle, Washington and had its world premiere at the Tarragon Theatre, in Toronto, Ontario, known for its development, creation and encouragement of new work in Canada.^[2]

Cast ^[3]

• Annie: Alice Snaden
• Jon: Matthew Edison

Creative team

• Hannah Moscovitch – Playwright
• Sarah Garton Stanley – Director
• Eva Barrie – Assistant Director
• Michael Gianfrancesco – Set Designer
• Michael Gianfrancesco – Costume Designer
• Bonnie Beecher – Lighting Designer
• Hilary Pitman – Assistant Lighting Designer
• Julian Iacob – Assistant Lighting Designer
• Miquelon Rodriguez – Sound Designer
• Laura Warren – Video Designer
• Joanna Falck – Dramaturge
• Siobhan Richardson – Intimacy Coach

Production

• Daniel Oulton – Stage Manager
• Jaimee Hall – Apprentice Stage Manager
• Jahnelle Jones-Williams – Resident Student

Staff

• Gerry Egan – Production Manager
• John Thomson – Technical Director
• Kathleen Johnston – Head of Wardrobe
• Shaw Forgeron – Interim Head of Properties
• Andrew Chute

Australian crew

Cast ^[4]

• Annie: Izabella Yena
• Jon: Dan Spielman

Creative team

• Petra Kalive – Director
• Marg Horwell – Set and Costume Designer
• Rachel Burke – Lighting Designer
• Darius Kedros – Composer and Sound Designer
• Isabella Vadiveloo – Assistant Director
• Michala Banas – Intimacy Coordinator
• Xanthe Beesley – Movement Consultant

Awards

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama^[5] at the 2021 Governor General's Awards.^[6]

Reception

The play has generally been well received in both Canada and Australia. In Toronto, Joe Szekeres, chief critic for the Onstage Blog writes, "Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch viscerally overturned the

1. metoo movement

on its head with a sizable goose egg bump at the premiere",^[7] and Carly Maga, theatre critic at the Toronto Star calls Moscovitch, "in control of her narrative, which she increasingly makes clear in her characterizations", claiming it to be "a powerful thing to witness."^[8] In Melbourne, Jane Mulkerrins at The Age adds the play explores "deftly subverting traditional tropes within the age-old story of a student-teacher affair".^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mulkerrins. Jane. 2021-02-26. Teacher-student affair 'not a love story': why play's male directors got it wrong. 2021-11-26. The Age. en.
2. News: Ouzounian. Richard. 2010-09-27. Speaking of theatre, Tarragon Theatre celebrates 40 years. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2021-11-26. 0319-0781.
3. Web site: Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes The Toronto Theatre Database. 2021-11-30. en-US.
4. Web site: Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes. 2021-11-30. www.mtc.com.au. en.
5. News: November 18, 2021. Halifax playwright Hannah Moscovitch wins Governor General's Literary Award for drama. CBC News. November 30, 2021.
6. News: Bresge. Adina. November 17, 2021. Inuk author Norma Dunning wins $25K Governor General's fiction prize. Coast Reporter. Canadian Press. November 30, 2021. November 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211117161409/https://www.coastreporter.net/the-mix/inuk-author-norma-dunning-wins-25k-governor-generals-fiction-prize-4766110. dead.
7. Web site: Szekeres. Joe. January 9, 2020. Toronto Review: "Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes" at Tarragon Theatre. 2021-11-30. OnStage Blog. en-CA.
8. News: Maga. Carly. 2020-01-09. Review 'Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes' is a familiar story of seduction — until it isn't. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2021-11-30. 0319-0781.
9. Web site: Mulkerrins. Jane. 2021-02-26. Teacher-student affair 'not a love story': why play's male directors got it wrong. 2021-11-30. The Age. en.