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Shakespeare Lovers Should Follow: Black Women Leaders in Shakespeare
For the last Shakespeare Lovers Should Follow segment, From Women’s Eyes made a list of Shakespeare-adjacent women and nonbinary playwrights who are making great waves in the field. This week, in honor of Black History Month and the upcoming Women’s History Month, From Women’s Eyes is highlighting a few of the many amazing Black women who are changing the game as actors, directors, dramaturgs, educators, producers, and scholars of Shakespeare. Don’t forget to also check out previous Shakespeareans in Action interviews with Alliyah Thorpe and Dawn Monique Williams!
a comedy of errors, acmrs, actors, ayanna thompson, bipoc actors, bipoc directors, bipoc dramaturgs, bipoc scholars, coriolanus, dawn monique williams, directors, dominique morisseau, dramaturgs, folger institute, folger shakespeare library, folger theatre, island shakespeare festival, madeline sayet, martine kei green-rogers, nataki garrett, oregon shakespeare festival, play on shakespeare, queer actors, queer directors, raceb4race, renea brown, scholars, shakespeare theatre company, the arden shakespeare, the two noble kinsmen, where we belong -
Shakespeareans in Action: Dawn Monique Williams
Shakespeareans in Action celebrates women, non-binary, and genderqueer creatives and scholars innovating and upending notions of who defines Shakespeare.
This week we take on the Good, the Bad, and the Bard-ly with Dawn Monique Williams. Dawn [she/her] is the Associate Artistic Director at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA. Recent directing credits include the world premieres of Marcus Gardley’s LEAR (Cal Shakes) and THE INCREMENTALIST by Cleavon Smith (Aurora); August Wilson’s TWO TRAINS RUNNING (Marin Theatre Company), PARADISE BLUE by Dominique Morisseau, UNE TEMPETE by Aimé Césaire (American Shakespeare Center), BEEHIVE: THE 60’S MUSICAL (CenterREP), Lauren Gunderson’s THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE (TheatreSquared), SWEET WATER TASTE (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre), LETTERS TO KAMALA (American Stage Company), EARTHRISE (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), BULL IN A CHINA SHOP (Aurora), THE SECRETARIES (Profile Theatre), ROMEO & JULIET (Chautauqua Theatre), August Wilson’s THE PIANO LESSON (Le Petit), Lynn Nottage’s BY THE WAY, MEET STARK (Douglas Morrisson and UNCO), and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (Town Hall); audio versions of Toni Morrison’s THE BLUEST EYE adapted by Lydia R. Diamond (Aurora) and Lynn Nottage’s LAS MENINAS (Profile Theatre). Dawn’s awards include the 2022 Pfaelzer Award, a Princess Grace Theatre Fellowship, a TCG Leadership U Residency Grant, and a Drama League Directing Fellowship. She holds an MA in Dramatic Literature and an MFA in Directing. Dawn is a proud member of SDC.
actors, aime cesaire, american shakespeare center, amnd, antony and cleopatra, ayanna thompson, benvolio, bipoc actors, bipoc directors, california shakespeare theater, casting, cleopatra, directing, directors, dominique morisseau, hermia, juliet, king lear, lady macbeth, lear, macbeth, marcus gardley, oregon shakespeare festival, playlists, queer actors, queer directors, romeo and juliet, shakespeare theatre company, shylock, sonia sanchez, spotify, the friar, the merchant of venice, the merry wives of windsor, the nurse, the tempest, twelfth night, une tempete, viola davis, women directors -
New Year, New Content: Songs for Shakespeare’s Women
Happy New Year lovely readers! Whether 2022 was a hit or miss, a new year has arrived to give a fresh slate. And in blogosphere-speak that means, you guessed it, fresh content! Read below to hear more about a merry and melodious project coming down the pike at From Women’s Eyes: Songs for Shakespeare’s Women.
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From Women’s Eyes Says ‘Tis the Season!
At From Women’s Eyes, it’s always the season for Shakespeare! But this time of year gives the perfect excuse to combine Shakespeare spirit with the holiday spirit. In my family, it is a tradition to watch a holiday movie on Christmas Eve. Lo and behold, here are holiday film suggestions based off your tastes in the Bard. Wishing everyone a happy holidays ahead!
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Shakespeareans in Action: Lilli Hokama
Shakespeareans in Action celebrates women, non-binary, and genderqueer creatives and scholars innovating and upending notions of who defines Shakespeare.
This month we explore the blossoming career of Lilli Hokama. Lilli Hokama is a queer Asian American actor born and raised in Denver, CO. She moved to DC during the pandemic by way of NY and though she never imagined living here, she has come to appreciate the greenery and cleanliness of the city. She is a multi-hyphenate artist whose idealistic objective is to expand empathy through storytelling and community. A tree-hugging hippie at heart, she hopes to unearth the intersection between activism, environmentalism, and theater making.
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Shakespearean Easter Eggs: The Music of Amanda Aldridge
When it comes to Shakespearean practitioners, unfortunately many in academia and the entertainment industry continue to whitewash contributors. As seen from the recent profile on Nataki Garrett, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Black women have been at the forefront of revolutionizing ways Shakespeare’s words can inspire new works. In the case of Amanda Aldridge, the Bard’s words inspired not new words but new music. This article celebrates the contributions Aldridge brought to English music, and how her trailblazing family became synonymous with Shakespearean excellence.
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Shakespeareans in Action: Alyssa Miller
Shakespeareans in Action celebrates women, non-binary, and genderqueer creatives and scholars innovating and upending notions of who defines Shakespeare.
This week, we explore new play development and quartos with Alyssa Miller. Alyssa Miller was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She attended Yale University where she earned a degree in English Literature. Alyssa has served as an assistant director and dramaturg at venues including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, working on new play world premieres and Shakespeare classics alike. Alyssa is a published poet and researcher, and recently completed a PhD in English at CU Boulder.
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Shakespeareans in Action: Anne Sandoe
Shakespeareans in Action celebrates women, non-binary, and genderqueer creatives and scholars innovating and upending notions of who defines Shakespeare.
Anne Sandoe is an actress, director and teacher, who has performed with the Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, Virginia and Antioch Shakespeare Festivals. She received her BA from the University of Colorado – Boulder and an MFA from Florida State University’s Asolo Conservatory program. Anne taught acting and voice at San Francisco State University and received her tenure teaching at Wright State University, where her special focus was Acting Shakespeare. She offered an Acting Shakespeare for Adults class in conjunction with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and has acted with the Arvada Center, BETC, the Catamounts, the Shakespeare Oratorio Society and other theatres in the Boulder region. Her particular interest is adapting Shakespeare’s plays for performance and she has published The War of the Roses—a compilation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy—and three other adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays.
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Book Review: “None But Witches” by Elizabeth Sylvia
Past posts have focused around the plays of Shakespeare and the performance practitioners who put their spin on them. Shakespeare of course was not just a champion of plays, but of new work, and poetry. It was a pleasure to be offered the opportunity to review a new book of poetry by author Elizabeth Sylvia, who was inspired by a project to read all of Shakespeare’s plays in a year. The collection comprises a reaction and critical examination of the role of women in Shakespeare’s plays and its greater societal impact. Previously published in literary journals such as Salamander, Pleiades, and Crab Creek Review, None But Witches: Poems on Shakespeare’s Women is Elizabeth Sylvia’s debut book and was published by Three Mile Harbor Press.
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Shakespeareans in Action: Jenny Bennett
Shakespeareans in Action celebrates women, non-binary, and genderqueer creatives and scholars innovating and upending notions of who defines Shakespeare.
This week, gain a globetrotting perspective on the Bard from Jenny Bennett. Jenny Bennett is a fourth-generation theatre woman. Directing includes Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, The Fall of King Henry (3H6) at the American Shakespeare Center; The Three Musketeers, Henry V at the Classical Theatre of Harlem; The Magic Flute at Manhattan Opera Studio. In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Jenny founded a theatre company and collaborated with international artists for seven years. Member: Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab; Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC).
From Women’s Eyes
Showcasing the Women, Genderqueer, and Nonbinary Leading Players from Shakespeare’s Day to Ours
From Women's Eyes
Showcasing Women, Genderqueer, and Nonbinary Leading Players in Shakespeare
From Women's Eyes 