Courtesy of Kelaiah Bigby

Lace up your petticoats and brush off your coattails as the Dramat presents its annual FroShow, “Miss Molly: A Marital Deceit of Honest Intentions.” Absurdly witty and flamboyantly charming, this gay romp runs from Feb. 20-22. Tickets are available here. 

“Miss Molly” is this year’s “FroShow” — an annual show acted, directed and produced entirely by first year students. The show explores queerness with grace and tongue-in-cheek humor in a backdrop — 1880s England — where gay men were criminalized and ostracized. 

“Miss Molly is a love letter to gay love and queer visibility,” said Kelaiah Bigby ’28, the director of this year’s FroShow.

The show follows Mr. Matthias Manley and Mr. Aloysious Thurston, two Victorian gentlemen, and their forbidden, velvet-cladden love affair. To dispel any rumors of their clandestine meetings, they hatch a plan to marry aristocratic sisters, Molly and Genevieve Housington. 

However, hot on their trails is the Viscountess Housington, a sensible woman whose wit is as sharp as her corset. The gentlemen must keep up their charade as she begins to unravel their farce. 

Making her Yale directorial debut, Bigby is taking on one of the largest stages the University has to offer. Striving to stay loyal to the script, her directorial process stresses the themes and messages playwright Christine Carmela is trying to convey.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on the words, the script and the conversations the characters are having with each other. They’re really important to the story,” said Bigby. 

Working alongside Bigby on production is a large, dedicated team of theater savants. Among them is stage manager Araiya Casriel ’28 and producer Maya Molina ’28. Equipped with a strong vision — and creative stage and costume designers — they aim to bring Victorian England to 222 York St. 

Bringing these debutantes and gilded gays to life is a talented cast of actors who embody characters cursed with wealth and an excess of emotions. 

Playing the conniving, love-stricken Mr. Matthias Manley and Mr. Aloysious Thurston are Chad Bowling ’28 and Gil Altman ’28. The Housington sisters are brought to life by Farah Kheder ’28 and Reeti Malhotra ’28. The Viscountess Petunia Housington, the girls’ discerning mother, is played by Hila Tor ’28. 

“It’s been wonderful playing Genevieve,” said Malhotra, who is also a staff reporter at the News. “She’s a goth, moody, self-assured, hot-tempered, compassionate, and well-read ‘slag’”

While these characters can easily fall into Victorian stereotypes, Bigby and her team of talented actors have worked tirelessly to bring out their “multidimensionality,” according to Malhotra. 

These efforts make the characters loveable, real and relatable to audiences today. Whether the characters are emphatically anti-patriarchal or overly anxious, the show strives to embrace both its preposterous yet sentimental nature. 

“It’s been fun, with someone who lives in such a different period in society as Matthias, finding those similarities to my own modern life,” said Bowling. 

To him, finding relatability in every character is essential to the acting process, no matter how different these characters are. 

“Miss Molly” invites audiences to witness a seemingly ludicrous tale of Victorian queer love. However, past the quippy zingers and nonsensical squabbles, Malhotra describes the show as one about “unconventional, but still loving, dear and profound” relationships.

“You’re going to see a weird mixture of relationship dynamics in this, between family members and lovers and friends. But one thing underpins them all: a mutual fondness, respect, and affection for one another,” Malhotra said. 

Filled with catastrophes, corsets and closets, “Miss Molly” is a campy uproar that will satiate any audience with a Bridgerton-sized hole in their hearts. 

The University Theater is located at 222 York St.