Review: Cygnet’s ‘Little Fellow’ takes a fascinating, funny and fierce look at the world’s oldest profession

calico 10/30/2023

In Kate Hamill’s new play “The Little Fellow (or — The Queen of Tarts Tells All),” the infamous courtesan Harriette Wilson becomes her own worst enemy. But the 100-minute dramedy also explores how the inhuman commodification of women has carved psychological scars into her soul that can never heal.

“The Little Fellow” opened Saturday in a world premiere production at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. Back in 2019, Hamill’s stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” made its local premiere at Cygnet. Both productions — directed by Rob Lutfy — share a wild, playful and anachronistic quality that’s bright, funny and often wacky in its time- and genre-bending style (listen for the sexy pre-show music by Madonna).

But where “Pride and Prejudice” was based on Austen’s ever-so-proper fictional source material, “The Little Fellow” is an original work based on real people in early 19th-century London — Wilson, her fellow courtesan Julia Johnstone and some of the wealthy men they entertained.

Wilson, whose nickname among her clients was “The Little Fellow” because of her boyish personality, published a series of memoirs in the 1820s exposing the secret sex lives of her clients — or, at least, those clients who refused to pay her blackmail demands, like Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.

While there are many moments of humor in the play, Hamill does not shy away from digging into the violent and seamy side of the world’s oldest profession. Nor does it cover up the cruel and self-destructive side of Wilson’s personality. Sex work is “business, not personal,” she and Johnstone say in the play, but it’s clear in Lutfy’s thoughtful staging that the soul-destroying occupation they share was the only work available to poor teen girls in the brutal patriarchal society.

Keiko Green in "The Little Fellow (or — The Queen of Tarts Tells All" by Kate Hamill.

Keiko Green is fierce, mercurial, edgy and wickedly funny as Harriet (the character’s first name is spelled differently in the program, presumably to allow Hamill dramatic license). MJ Sieber is exceptional as all of the men in her life. He’s sweet and gentle as George Noel Hill, vile as the disgusting Marquis of Worcester and commanding as Arthur Wellesley, to name a few. (Green and Sieber are married in real life and their onstage chemistry is palpable.)

Sofia Jean Gomez, as Julia Johnstone and others, has the feminine refinement that Green’s aggressive character does not, but also a reticence and world weariness. And Rachael VanWormer skillfully plays Harriet’s maid and others with a variety of accents and temperaments.

Shirley Pierson’s costumes, particularly Harriet’s riding gear and Wellesley’s uniform, are impressive. The lighting by Anne E. McMills and dramatic scenery by Yi-Chien Lee bring a great deal of color, playfulness and mood to the story. Steven Leffue designed sound and Peter Herman’s wigs are fun.

After publishing her memoirs, Wilson got rich, but she became a pariah in London. In this play, she also becomes a madame, putting other women, including her faithful maid, into the sexual service of men. It’s not a happy ending, and she’s not an admirable character. But she is a fascinating one, and the play is lively and entertaining to watch.