MCLA's 'Henry V' Features All-Female Cast| 11:17AM / Wednesday, November 16, 2016 | |
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Department of Fine and Performing Arts will present its second show of the season, an adaptation of "Henry V" produced with an entirely female cast.
The play opens tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Venable Theater on the MCLA campus and runs through Nov. 19, with nightly shows at 8 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 19.
According to the play's director, Laura Standley, an associate professor of theater at MCLA, the adaptation highlights some of the conflicts in our society today.
"This season is about allowing women the opportunities in theater they may not normally have access to," she said. "By empowering women to play roles normally reserved for men, this diverse and exciting all-female cast cuts to the heart of Shakespeare’s most famous discourse on war, ambition, unrest and power."
The power of the show is not lost on the cast of the show and the women working in other leadership roles, said Assistant Director Mallory Schettine, an MCLA senior.
"It brings an additional gravity to the show to have women in these leadership roles of kings, when our own government is going through a shift with our current election," said Breana Gladu, another senior, who plays the role of Falstaff, as well as Fluellen and Exeter.
Gladu noted the challenges presented to her in depicting a main character not typically given to a woman to play.
In addition to an all-female cast, the show features some creative editing. Standley's combination of "Henry V," interlaced with "Henry IV," allows the audience to understand the relationship that created the situations in "Henry IV."
For more information or to reserve tickets, call the box office at 413-662-5123 or visit https://mcla.ticketleap.com/.
The theater program at MCLA develops innovative theater artists prepared for careers in theater and graduate study. In the intimate, culturally rich setting of the Berkshires, students hone their craft through intensive studio training and hands-on experience, within the context of their broader liberal arts education. Opportunities for practical experience abound, from courses in acting, directing, design and production to working alongside a faculty of talented professionals in our award-winning production season. On stage and in the classroom, theater students at MCLA make theater of the highest quality, as they explore the rich tradition of this unique, multi-disciplinary art form.
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