Ben Jonson’s Classic Gender-Twisting Comedy of Epic Proportions
May 22-June 6 at 14th Street Theatre
One of Ben Jonson’s lesser-known works, Epicene tells us of the paranoid Morose, his clever nephew and a new bride unlike any other in the classical theatre. Jonson took gender-bending and identity to a new and hilarious level, and (re:) Directions Theatre is proud to ridiculously amplify and completely sully that noble tradition. Epicene is a biting satire on greed, snobbery, and the rampant existence of hypocrisy in society – on every level.
Epicene or The Silent Woman will be performed on the following dates/times:
Saturday, May 22nd at 8pm
Tuesday, May 25th at 8pm
Thursday, May 27th at 8pm
Friday, May 28th at 8pm
Saturday, May 29th at 3pm
Wednesday, June 2nd at 8pm
Thursday, June 3rd at 8pm
Sunday, June 6th at 2pm
Combining cross-dressing comedy and a morality tale, and first produced in 1609, Epicene or The Silent Woman illustrates the danger of getting what you wish for. Morose, a very wealthy citizen of London, has little use for people. Especially Dauphine, his nephew and sole heir. When introduced to the quiet and demure Epicene, Morose greedily becomes determined to marry her, but he soon finds the best intentions can quickly go off the rails. A biting satire on greed, snobbery, and the rampant existence of hypocrisy in society – on every level.
The cast of Epicene features Caitlin McColl* Gina Marie Jameison, Jonathan Cantor*, Michael-Alan Read, Robert Gonzales Jr., Victoria Miller, Christopher Norwood*, Lucy Gillespie, Michael Kirby*. Josh Odess-Rubin*, Sarah Knittel, Kathryn Elisabeth Lawson
*- denotes a member of Actors’ Equity
Founded in August 2006, (re:) Directions Theatre seeks to challenge and entertain audiences of all backgrounds by presenting established texts in new and innovative ways, as well as developing and promoting new works for the stage by aspiring artists. Their projects are all selected to meet one of the definitions that their name implies – either a re-imagining of an established work or a new work that stands out from the crowd as uniquely different from the norm.
Directed by Tom Berger, with assistant director Patrice Miller, Epicene or The Silent Woman will be performed at the 14th Street Theatre, located at 344 East 14th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), as a part of The Anybody But Shakespeare Classics Festival. Show dates and times for Epicene are: Saturday, May 22nd at 8pm, Tuesday, May 25th at 8pm, Thursday, May 27th at 8pm, Friday, May 28th at 8pm, Saturday, May 29th at 3pm, Wednesday, June 2nd at 8pm, Thursday, June 3rd at 8pm, and Sunday, June 6th at 2pm. Tickets are $18.00 and reservations can be made at 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com. Information: www.redirectionstheatre.com/abslineup.html
The Anybody but Shakespeare Classics Festival is the perfect solution for those who have had just a bit too much of the Bard lately. Presented by (re:) Directions Theatre from May 20-June 6 at the 14th Street Theatre, the Festival features Ben Jonson’s Epicene or The Silent Woman, Christopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage (done as full staged reading), a song cycle featuring the works of Hugo Wolf (based on the text of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), and a series of readings from early American works. The complete festival lineup with performance dates/times and ticketing information is available at www.redirectionstheatre.com/abslineup.html.
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