As far as research goes, I’ve been looking for things mostly pertaining to Margery and Spirit Walter (as opposed to living breathing Walter) because I wanted to get a sense of who she is strictly as a person. I thought it might be helpful to look at her mediumship through what Walter said and did, because that might give me both a sense of how real or performed these séances were for her and also why she began and continued to do them. I’ve found a lot of helpful things including a book called “Margery” by Thomas R. Tietze. Although, I’ve been having some trouble finding the book « margery the Medium » by Bird for less than $199.99, so if anyone has it would I be able to borrow it for a few days when we get back to school? What was great about the book I did find was the amount of actual direct quotes. There were some pretty funny Margery and Spirit Walter quotes including the following:
“You want to know what it feels like to be a witch? You know that’s what they would have called me in
Also, I was looking at the script in terms of what I’d found and I have some questions about the section around page 18, where Margery is being sort of controlled by the ensemble. Margery seems to me like an incredibly in control person throughout her life (considering the circumstances), even though in the end she loses control. I think in terms of this section, I need to find a way to stay in control a bit, even though I’m really getting thrown about. Or maybe a way to make myself think I am in control or think I am enjoying/that it is my choice to not be in control. In this section she says “I did not want my marriage to end.. and now I am beginning to forget Walter’s voice etc.. never wanted to get this far into the limelight.” I was wondering how much of this is sincere? How much does she actually mind being in the limelight? Also, is she talking about her first marriage, which did actually end or the second? I’m assuming the second, which is her marriage to Crandon, and did that end eventually?
Anyway, these are just a bunch of preliminary questions. And I found a lot of great stuff, especially the fact that she may have had her vaginal canal reconstructed by her husband so that ectoplasmic limbs could escape from it undetected.
Emily (V.)
3 comments:
I think it might be neat to make the scene where Margery gets thrown around also be the point where she makes a physical transition. Maybe make-up artists come out and give her some indigo lids and she gets a turban (made of newspaper?) or something like that.
I was thinking that another point where I need to transition is the point between talking about my brother's death to when i begin to be a medium because I think they need to connect in some way. Not necessarily as a cause/effect, but as something.
Alright! Looks like you're doing some good research. I had, in fact, a copy of Bird's "Margery the Medium" in my possession, but was recently forced to return it. Apparently ILLiad was going to charge me 90 bucks or some absurd amount of dollars as a late fee. I'm ordering another though, which you should feel free to borrow (once I get it). So you know, there are plenty of libraries in the area who carry copies, and you can get one yourself through ILLiad, if you'd like.
To (try to) answer some of your questions: You're right, Margery (or Mina) was raised Christian, as it seems many Spiritualists were. As the religion was relatively new at this point (40 or 50 years, at most), not many individuals were being "raised Spiritualist," it depended a lot on conversion. Due to the discrepancies of sources, it's unclear how exactly Margery felt about "the afterlife." What we do know is that she moved to Boston from Canada to, among other things, escape the "fundamentalist bleakness" of her father--which might lead us to believe she wasn't all to fond with religious thought. This is compounded with the fact that she married an Atheist (Dr. Crandon, who was seemingly obsessed with his own mortality, and apparently found some hope in Spiritualism and his wife-the-medium). Before she began practicing as a medium, she met Spiritualism with much skepticism, laughing out loud at tables with her husband. Even when she began practicing, she seemed hesitant, some say, at first refusing to attempt trance possession. As far as I can tell, and feel free to disagree, it isn't until she meets up again with the spirit of Walter that she puts her heart into her mediumship.
Regarding her marriage, again it's hard to say what the reality of their situation was...but I guess that's the point I'm trying to make. What we know is that Dr. Crandon was Atheist, and before coming to Spiritualism had expressed a great fear of his own death. We also know that this was his third marriage, and Mina's second. In "The Secret Life of Houdini," which you should check out if you haven't already--it has a more expanded version of Margery's store than most other Houdini biographies, which creates an interesting story in itself--she is referred to as Dr. Crandon's "trophy wife." Also, a few people suggest that Mina had several sexual encounters with men who frequented her séances. One man even accused her of forcing him to masturbate her during a sitting. Again, this information is sketchy. The same book also says that, after her career plummeted due to her exposure, Dr. Crandon lost interest in her--particularly as she began drinking more and gaining weight. Apparently there is a report from around this time in her life (1932) of Mina leaving her own séance table to head up to the roof. Poised to jump off, one of her sitters, allegedly, talked her down.
So, this is all to say--the history is not 100% clear. It will be up to us to make these decisions--how sincere is Margery? How much control does she have over her own life? Did she love Dr. Crandon? Did she believe in the afterlife? Did she sexualize her séances to the extent that some people have reported? We will talk about this more (a whole lot more) in rehearsals.
Those are some great quotes, and I'm wondering if there's a spot in the script somewhere for them. Hold onto those, we'll play around with them in rehearsals. I've also just come across what is apparently her last words: (spoken to a psychic investigator who lay at her deathbed asking for a final confession) "You can go to hell. All you 'psychic researchers' can go to hell. (Laughs) Why don't you guess? (Laughs) You'll all be guessing...for the rest of your lives."
Pretty cool! Okay, that's it from me...for now...
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