The Life and Death of Queen Margaret

Photos by Ellen Augarten, Tyran Grillo, and Erin Lu

Praise for The Life and Death of Queen Margaret:

“I was blown away by the beauty of your work! I’m so so very glad I was able to get there and bear witness to this artistry! You are a beautiful director, and your visions are both large and intimate, dangerous and healing all at once. Congratulations to you and to your amazing cast for work so well and so tenderly done!”
— Deb Margolin, Performer, Playwright, and Professor of Theater at Yale University
“Weaving together those strands and fragments into a moving compelling dramatic narrative was a great feat, directed with such poetry and grace.”
— Harley Erdman, Professor of Theater at University of Massachusetts
“I was bowled over by your production of The Life & Death of Queen Margaret. Just incredible. How powerful the themes of parenting and parental grief were for me. And I believe that this was because of the re-interpretation of Shakespeare’s work and of history by casting incredible women in all of the roles. I can never get out of my mind the Duke of York’s flaming invective against Margaret for killing Rutland, nor Margaret’s at Richard & Edward for killing her son, nor Margaret’s fury at her husband for refusing to support Edward’s interests, nor King Henry VI’s sorrow at the loss of (her) son. So filled with sound and fury and signifying everything that matters.”
— Cindy Parish, Filmmaker

The Life and Death of Queen Margaret
A patchwork of mostly Shakespeare's text as funneled and augmented by Toby Vera Bercovici and Dan Morbyrne
Produced by Real Live Theatre

 

Direction and Scenic Design, Toby Vera Bercovici
Choreography, Annelise Nielsen
Fight Choreography, Dan Morbyrne
Stage Management and Lighting Design, Ezekiel Baskin
Dramaturgy, Josh Platt
Costume Design, Julia Vincenza Whalen with Rich Vaden
Sound Design, Catherine McCurry
with an original song by Cynthia Zaitz, Ph.D.
and wooden staves by Michael Humphries

Cast

Margaret of Anjou, Myka Plunkett
Joan of Arc/Humphrey Duke of Gloucester/Richard Duke of Gloucester, Linda Tardif
Theophanie/Lord John Clifford/King Louis XI, Jeannine Haas*
William de la Pole Duke of Suffolk/Prince Edward, Lisa Abend*
King Henry VI/Rutland, Kate Hare
Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester/King Edward IV, Annelise Nielsen
Richard Duke of York/Queen Elizabeth, Ellen Morbyrne
Richard Earl of Warwick/Catherine Clifford, Emily Tanch

In previous iterations of the piece, the roles of Suffolk and Prince Edward were played by Julissa Rodriguez and the roles of Eleanor and Edward IV were played by Faye Bobersky

*Member of Actors' Equity Association