Lewes’ favorite daughter, star of stage and screen, premieres her newest one-woman piece, The Book of Poissy. Christine de Pizan’s The Book of Poissy, written in 1400, is the lively retelling of a jaunt on horseback from Paris to Poissy. Along the way, Christine asks the reader to judge a “who’s saddest” competition between two tragi-comic lovers and slyly compares the life of women in a Dominican cloister with that of noble ladies living in the Age of Chivalry. The tale takes surprising and sometimes hilarious turns, as in moments when the lovers describe their paramours like prized racehorses, down to the set of their ears and noses. This is the first English translation of an overlooked Medieval French masterpiece, accompanied by lutenist Gaven Dianda.

Suzanne Savoy has made a career of performing on TV and in film and onstage in regional theatres, playing Shakespeare’s Desdemona, Emilia, Rosalind, Viola, and many other classical roles. Lately she has been translating the works of Christine de Pizan for performance and publication.
Register