Centaur Theatre in partnership with Repercussion and Tableau D’Hôte presents

Thy Woman’s Weeds

Written by Erin Shields
Directed by Amanda Kellock
With Deena Aziz, Leni Parker, Joy Ross-Jones, Espoir Segbeaya, Warona Setshwaelo, Felicia Shulman, and Julie Tamiko Manning

Seven of Montreal’s finest actresses pull back the curtain on the Bard in this bold behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a woman working with Shakespeare today.

“Frailty, thy name is man.” — Ophelia

Lady Capulet fights to stay relevant next to her fresh-faced Juliet, while Goneril clamours for a role as juicy as King Lear’s. Hermia laments the dress code that prevents her from wearing whatever “woman’s weeds” she pleases; Desdemona desperately needs an intimacy coach. As the director asks Lady Macbeth to sexualize her unsexing, Ophelia rails at the patriarchy from beyond her early grave. Meanwhile, the chorus of actresses playing each of these classic characters are finding it more and more difficult to hold their tongues about what they’re going through on- and off-stage.

“It is neither simply a love-letter to Shakespeare, nor is it a break-up text (though it sometimes is both). It is a daringly vulnerable expression of some of the people and experiences that are left out of this so-called universal material.” – Amanda Kellock, director

Erin Shields’s fierce feminist re-examination of Shakespeare’s work and the way it is taken up in contemporary society sheds new and urgent light both on the blindspots in the Bard’s oeuvre and on the modern social dynamics that continue to challenge women’s full participation in the performing arts. This exciting new theatrical creation will delight Shakespeare aficionados and agnostics alike.

Thy Woman’s Weeds was developed in collaboration with Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal.

To purchase your tickets visit: www.centaurtheatre.com

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