Theatre Unbound will be postponing our production of Christina Ham’s A Wives’ Tale, replacing it in the spring 2018 time slot with Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Kate Powers. Other commitments prevent Ms. Ham from completing planned rewrites on A Wives’ Tale at this time - we look forward to producing it in a future season.
“Though we’re disappointed not to be able to present A Wives’ Tale as planned, we’re excited to embark on this project with the remarkable artistic team we’ve assembled. Kate’s Shakespeare directing chops are formidable, and Measure for Measure couldn’t be more timely,” says Theatre Unbound Executive Director Anne Bertram.
“It’s a 400-year-old #metoo story,” adds Ms. Powers, Artistic Director of the Redeeming Time Project, which uses Shakespeare workshops to effect positive change for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adults. She says, “I’m interested in exploring all the ways in which the women characters (particularly Isabel and Mariana) might be able to ‘win’ the play.”
The production will use a new edition of Measure for Measure prepared by Ms. Powers, compiling recent scholarship to remove Thomas Middleton’s early interventions into the text and bring it a step closer to what scholars believe Shakespeare originally wrote. Theatre Unbound’s production will be the first professional production of this restoration of the text.
Theatre Unbound Core Company Member Charla Marie Bailey (Lyric Arts, SteppingStone) leads as Duke Vincentio. Samantha Joy Singh (Elmwood Playhouse, Ramapo Performing Arts Theater) appears as the conflicted Lord Angelo, Ashe Jaafaru (nimbus, Great River Shakespeare, Penumbra Theatre) as the beleaguered nun Isabella, Lynda Dahl (Theatre in the Round, Lyric Arts) as Escalus, Leonard Searcy (Capri Theater, MCTC) as Claudio, Meri Golden (Theatre in the Round, Theatre Coup d’Etat) as Lucio, Nicole Goeden (Shakespeare & Company, Classical Actors Ensemble) as Mariana, Stephanie Ruas (Teatro del Pueblo, Park Square) as the Provost, Boo Segersin (Winding Sheet Outfit, Six Elements Theatre) as Elbow, and Delinda “Oogie” Pushetonequa (New Native Theatre, Wonderlust Productions) as Mistress Overdone. Travis Bedard (Redeeming Time Project, Classical Actors Ensemble) and TU Core Company Member Julie K. Phillips round out the cast.
Performance dates, times and location will be the same as those scheduled for A Wives’ Tale.