Thank you to all who came to see Women Playing Hamlet for its short NYC premiere and run, June 22-26 at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios.

The play was TIC's third time producing a play by William Missouri Downs.

Go See a Show Podcast called it "a hysterically funny examination" and "laugh out loud funny".

And a huge thank you to all the cast, crew, and supporters who made this run possible.

Our next production will be the 10-performance run of Rapture, Blister, Burn this October 26-November 6 at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios.

If you're free at 2:30 PM today, please come out for our last performance of Women Playing Hamlet at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios. Walk up and buy a ticket or get in on your AEA card! Or go to www.tictheater.com.

The play features an all-female cast and crew, and it's a light Mel Brooks-style rumination on what it takes to play such a meaty role (hint: testosterone not necessary). Yes, I used rumination, Mel Brooks and testosterone in the same sentence!

We interviewed the wonderful actress Joy Sudduth, who plays an acting coach, Gwen, in this production.

Favorite line from the play?
JESSICA: In addition, I can't see to take action.
MALE PSYCHIATRIST: Ah, yes, Jimmy Carter Syndrome.

Yes, I am a bit of a political junkie! ;-)

In the play, is there a character whose philosophy speaks to you?
Emily Ostergaard, because she is a bit precocious, amazingly brave, and incredibly no-nonsense, and let's admit that while she annoys Jessica, an outstandingly charismatic dynamic young woman. I also believe that as a nation, we would benefit from "turning off the TV and seeking better company," as Emily says near the end of the show.

Female actors play all the male roles in this production, are there any you would like to tackle?
While there really aren't many male character that I specifically would like to play, I do believe there are MANY male roles that could be brilliantly cast with women playing them. Jacob (the maid) in La Cage Aux Folles is brilliant, and could be a woman. Who can help love a maid who can't cook, clean, or do anything useful outside of prancing around naked and joyously happy?

We opened Women Playing Hamlet last night to a great response!  Please join us for our very limited run, June 22-26 @ Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios.

Get your $18 tickets at www.tictheater.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

We interviewed the wonderful Hannah Sloat about Shakespeare, this production, and being a part of this romp.

Tell us an interesting or funny story about working on Shakespeare.
I played the back half of Caliban for one performance of The Tempest at the last minute because the original back half wouldn't  go on. Also this was middle school. Oh, I was the age I am in my Emily Ostergaard picture in Women Playing Hamlet! So, picture that girl holding the hips of an angry middle school boy, inside a sort of sea-monster-cow costume. 

Favorite line from this show and why?
When the Male Psychiatrist tells Jessica that instead of an Oedipus complex she has pre-Oedipal ambivalence. I cannot explain why. 

All the characters in this play are performed by women. What male role would like you to take on, and why?
 Henry V. I had the chance to play Prince Hal in Henry IV parts 1 & 2 last summer with Smith Street Stage, and I would love to complete that circle. 

Of all the characters in the play, whose philosophy most resonates with you, and why?
Sir Patrick Stewart says (in the play, mind you) that Hamlet speaks to you in different ways at different times in your life. I've already had that experience with other shows in small ways (like A Midsummer Night's Dream at 11 and 20) and I look forward to that experience with Hamlet. 

Favorite Shakespearean quotation?
These things seem small and indistinguishable/ like far off mountains turnèd into clouds. (MND IV, i)

How have you described this play to friends?
I'm always saying that the show I'm working on is a "light comic romp" and it's a joke. But this time I can actually say it! Come on and see it, it's a light comic romp!

We're nearing the home stretch for TIC's 32nd production, the NYC premiere of Women Playing Hamlet by William Missouri Downs, which runs for 5 performances next week. We'd love it if you came out to see this all-female production, about an actress battling her insecurities and more than a few nay-sayers on her way to playing Hamlet.

Dates and venue: Wed-Sat June 22-25 @ 7:30 PM and Sun June 26 @ 2:30 PM at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor).

Tickets are $18 at www.tictheater.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

We recently interviewed the very talented actor Amy Fulgham, who plays a whole host of characters in the show, from a blowhard humanities professor, a priest, to a Bard-spouting bartender.

What's a fond memory you have of playing in a Shakespearean play?
In grad school, I got to play Audrey, the goatherd in As You Like It. There's a line of Touchstone's where he says, "Trip, Audrey, trip" as they exit the stage, so I thought that just meant "run fast!" I then learned, from the trivia printed in a Snapple lid that "trip" means a herd of goats. That witty Shakespeare!

Favorite Shakespearean quotation?
I love finding snippets of Shakespearean phrase in other works of literature, such as Faulkner's title, "The Sound and the Fury," which comes from Macbeth.

My favorite quotation, though, is: "it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

If you were to replace the word "love" with "risk," it would accurately describe an actor's life.

What's your favorite of Shakespeare's plays?
Macbeth. That play, along with Oedipus Rex, The Crucible and Shanley's Doubt are probably my favorite plays of all.

I realize that they all four have to do with hubris and the ensuing panic it causes.

Next week, TIC's 32nd production, Women Playing Hamlet, opens for a quickie run from June 22-26, 2016 at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor.

Get your $18 tickets at www.tictheater.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

We interviewed one of the show's actors, Ms. Jennifer Teska, who plays 'Jessica,' the woman at the heart of the story. Jessica has been cast as Hamlet and immediately is faced with nay-sayers, doubters, and Patrick Stewart stalking her. We interviewed the funny lady about Shakespeare's role and roles in her life.

This play is about your character, Jessica, being cast as Hamlet. What "male" role would you like to take on?
Is it too cliche, given the context of this show, to say Hamlet? Because that's definitely up there. In the realm of Shakespeare, top choices (right now) would be Hamlet and Iago. In musical theatre land, I think it would be Pippin in Pippin. I've always loved his songs.

Favorite Shakespearean quotation?
"Frailty, thy name is woman!" (KIDDING.)
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with sleep." The Tempest, Act IV, Scene i

What's an early Shakespeare-related experience you can recall?
When I was about 12 years old, I played Portia in a VERY abridged version of The Merchant of Venice. For years after that, my mother would have me deliver "The quality of mercy" speech at dinner parties/family gatherings. Because nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like a pre-teen reciting Shakespeare.

In just over a week, TIC's 32nd production, Women Playing Hamlet, opens for a whirlwind run from June 22-26, 2016 at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor.

Get your $18 tickets at www.tictheater.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

We interviewed one of the show's actors, Ms. Lori Funk, who plays several roles in the piece, from a Freudian psychiatrist to a ghost to a Home Shopping Network Host to a few others.

What's your favorite line in the show?
When Gwen says, "My acting teacher, the great Stella Adler, said, 'Life crushes your soul--theatre reminds you, you have one!'"

Every time I hear those words in rehearsal, I think to myself, AMEN. Life can and does crush your soul at times (it crushed mine on the A train this morning). But, if you have art in your life (theatre, music, dance, drawing, painting, etc. etc. etc.), then you are ultimately un-crushable.

Favorite Shakespearean quotation?
"To thine own self be true." (Hamlet)

They say "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." Do you agree?
Yes.

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you next week at Women Playing Hamlet!

Over the coming weeks, we'll be blogging about our team for TIC's 32nd production, Women Playing Hamlet by William Missouri Downs.

The show marks the NYC premiere of the play, which runs for 5 performances, Wed-Sat June 22-25 @ 7:30 pm and Sun June 26 @ 2:30 pm at Theater 54 @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor).

Buy your $18 tickets at www.tictheater.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

Kicking off our blogging series for this show is our production's director, Ms. Molly Ballerstein. We asked her a few questions about the show and Shakespeare.

What's your favorite line from this show, and why?
In Act II, Jessica says "Dear Sarah. Why Hamlet? Why cast yourself in a role that would for sure bring condemnation from the critics?" The Sarah mentioned is Sarah Bernhardt, who played Hamlet in 1899 and then again in 1900. 
 
At this point in our history, many women have played Shakespeare's men.

As we rehearse for this play, The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park is an all female production of The Taming of The Shrew. Every production seems to need a twist for justifying the choice to critics and even with this justification there is often condemnation. So why do theatre companies continue to produce all female Shakespeare? Why do directors make this a story telling choice? Why do female actors take the roles and even seek them out? 
 
I have my answer for the question posed in this line and I'm sure Jennifer Teska (Jessica/Hamlet) has one as well. The discussion surrounding story-telling choices in theatre, the questions raised, and the reactions to these choices by critics fascinate me. 

Favorite Shakespeare quotation?
“Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win,
By fearing to attempt.”
—Lucio in Measure for Measure

When did you first work on Shakespeare in a meaningful way?
We had to read Hamlet my senior year of high school and our English teacher (whom I used to get in, let's call them, intellectual debates with nearly every class) was a fan of group projects. A lot of the theatre kids and a group of guys that often made short films decided to group up for what we thought would be an awesome short film version of the bard's work. For some reason that is no longer remembered, we thought the due date was a week later than it actually was and were naturally all procrastinators. Well, the resulting script and project were perhaps not this group of top ten students and theatre kids best work, but it entertained us.

As evidence here's the edited down version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XrGeDA6xRA  I don't recall why the effect on my voice was chosen and my favorite part of this project will always be Ophelia's death.