Shakespeare’s Actresses in America

January 30, 2006 - February 1, 2006

"An accessible, intelligent, and utterly transfixing evocation of the performers who, in age after age of changing fashion, have breathed fresh life into the ageless work of a master."

— The Boston Globe

Shakespeare’s Actresses in America, a new one-woman play, reveals the varied interpretations of Shakespeare’s heroines and explores how women have shaped our understanding of the world’s greatest playwright.

Shakespeare’s Actresses in America, a new one-woman play, brings to life the vocal and physical styles of some of the finest actresses America has known. From stage stars Sarah Bernhardt, Ellen Terry, Eva Le Gallienne and Margaret Webster, to film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Claire Danes—this beautifully crafted solo work reveals the varied interpretations of Shakespeare’s heroines and explores how women have shaped our understanding of the world’s greatest playwright.

"Maggor offers . . . the fascination of watching wildly various interpretations of a single speech, the pleasure of seeing a well-trained actress's physical and vocal techniques deployed with precision and taste, and the deepened understanding that every age has its own 'real' Shakespeare."

— The Boston Globe

“Shakespeare's Actresses in America is more than good theater; it's good history. A delightful romp through a century of Shakespeare on stage and film that lends fresh insight into both the plays, and their American audiences.”

— Professor Jill Lepore, Harvard University

“A gifted and charismatic performer, Maggor makes each actress completely distinct. The scholarship is impressive, and this is a highly-entertaining performance. This may be a one-woman show but in Shakespeare’s Actresses in America, there’s an army onstage.”

— The Boston Phoenix

“Shakespeare’s Actresses in America is the most entrancing Bard encounter I’ve seen in ages. The time could not have been better spent, nor the Bard better served.”

— New England Theater Mirror