Director’s Note

In America, Shakespeare's History plays have traditionally not enjoyed as rich a performance history as his Tragedies & Comedies. This is a real shame, because they contain some of Shakespeare's most lyrical passages, complex relationships, fascinating characters, luscious text, ever-changing alliances and surprising relevant mirrors into the present time. The histories are stamped by the names of the men who actually reigned as kings of that “precious stone set in the silver sea.”

But what about the women in these plays dominated by powerful men? Let us not forget that Shakespeare was writing these history plays at a time when there was, in fact, a woman on the throne. And what a woman! Queen Elizabeth asserted and consolidated political power through her staunch independence from the institution of marriage, which was the traditional route for a woman to socially and politically gain access to the halls of power. 

The women in Shakespeare's Histories play many different functions; besides the traditional roles of mothers, daughters and wives they also act as witnesses, victims and perpetrators. Shakespeare's Histories are essentially family dramas, cousins rebelling against one another, fathers disowning their sons, mothers mourning the loss of their children. Blood shedding blood. The women of the Histories use every available weapon at their disposal: sexuality, intuition and sheer force of personality to maneuver through the social and political minefields in which they live.  

Dames of Thrones is a unified production and exploration of the woman in the history plays. We see the journey of a woman navigating the tempestuous seas of social and political power. Historical context is less important in this production than in a full-length Shakespeare play.  We will be doing 11 scenes woven together ​from 8 of Shakespeare’s histories. The scenes are entitled by the name of the woman driving the scene: Blanche, Kate, Anne, Elizabeth, Isabel, Joan, Margaret, Constance. The scenes are not in chronological order, but in what I have termed a “life order,” as if we are following one single woman from her betrothal and marriage to becoming a mother and ​widow.

Ducdame Ensemble has 19 founding members, 12 of whom are women. In the character breakdowns of most classical theatre there are more men than woman by a ratio of at least three to one. I wondered what would happen if we viewed the histories from a female perspective. This was the genesis of this production as well as one of many reasons that I am very excited to bring this performance to you in February. It is important to bring unjustly neglected works of this potency to audiences. And the exploration is always glorious.

Ariana Karp, Director