Those Women are in the press! Theatrius reviewed Those Women Production’s latest fully staged show, the new drama Witch Hunt, which focuses on the origins and untold stories behind the Salem witch panic.
Those Women Production’s latest staged production, Witch Hunt, presents a completely new look at a seemingly well-known era in American history: the Salem witch panic. Playwright Carol S. Lashof’s new drama explores the origins of the infamous era and uncovers its ties to our present moment in history, told from the perspective of Tituba, a captive indigenous woman who was the first to be accused of witchcraft.
Lashof, director Elizabeth Vega, and cast members Renee Rogoff and Sofia Angelopoulos share their thoughts on bringing this work to the stage, in interviews with local radio stations KPFA, KPOO, and KALW.
Those Women Productions presents the world premiere of Carol S. Lashof’s Witch Hunt, a new drama that explores the origins of the Salem witch panic and compels us to consider the ties between that infamous era and our present moment in history. Witch Hunt begins preview performances on July 12, opens on Friday, July 19, and runs through August 4 at La Val’s Subterranean Theater in Berkeley. Those Women Productions practices “Radical Hospitality”: the suggested price for tickets is $30 but all tickets for all shows are choose your own price with no minimum. Advance tickets are available at witchhunt.brownpapertickets.com or can be purchased at the door subject to availability.
“I make plays to change the stories we believe in, because it’s the best way I know to change the world we live in,” said playwright Lashof. “When I began research for this project, I was shocked to discover how much of what I thought I knew about the witch trials and Puritan New England turned out to be made up out of a tissue of myth, prejudice, and outright lies. Girls dancing naked in the woods? In February? During one of the coldest winters in New England history? Not likely.”
Read more at Broadway World San Francisco: https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/Those-Women-Productions-Announces-the-World-Premiere-of-WITCH-HUNT-20190611
“Everything that happens along the border, it’s all connected,” says playwright Marisela Orta about writing Woman on Fire.
In conjunction with the West Coast premiere of Woman on Fire, the playwright talked to theatre critic Lily Janiak of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Q: The initial impulse for “Woman on Fire” came long before recent news broke about children getting separated from their families at our borders. Do you think that adds a different dimension to the play?
A: Everything that happens along the border, it’s all connected. … The border is something that we have to grapple with as a society: how we treat this border versus how we treat, say, the border with Canada, but also the U.S.’ relationship to Latin America and how it’s destabilized those countries. We often forget how we’ve created the crisis that’s created refugees coming north. We need those reminders.
Read the rest of Lily Janiak’s interview here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/performance/article/In-Woman-on-Fire-playwright-Orta-brings-13171974.php
Ciclady Rodriguez as Paola in Woman on Fire
THOSE WOMEN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS SHIFTING SPACES
MARCH 23-APRIL 8, 2018
Coming this spring to the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley, Those Women Productions presents Shifting Spaces, a trio of new one-act plays about individuals fighting to claim their full human identities. The program includes the world premieres of They/Them by Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko and vessels by Kim Yaged, as well as the west coast premiere of Revelation by Shirley Barrie.
These three plays reflect a wide spectrum of feminist perspectives. Each tells a unique story in a bold and captivating voice. Stylistically very different, they all feature characters who fight passionately for and believe courageously in their right to be themselves.
When & Where:
Shifting Spaces will preview on March 23 and open on Saturday, March 24, 2018 (press opening); it plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through April 8 (no performance on Easter Sunday, April 1) at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.
Tickets:
Those Women Productions is committed to making theater accessible to audiences regardless of ability to pay. All shows are “choose your own price” with prices ranging from $00.00 to $35.00. All seating is General Admission.
Tickets are available in advance through Brown Paper Tickets:
https://shiftingspaces.brownpapertickets.com/
and at the door beginning one-half hour before performances.
The plays of Shifting Spaces are:
-
vessels (World Premiere)
It’s Germany—1944. Are you a bitch or a whore? Is she your lover, friend, sister, acquaintance, colleague, or occasion for sin?
Commissioned for the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, this poetic drama reveals the little-known stories of lesbians in Nazi Germany, written by Kim Yaged, directed by Those Women Productions’ Artistic Director Elizabeth Vega.
Cast
12-17 … Elliot Stanley
25-54 … Jean Cary
AGED … GiGi Anber
-
They/Them (World Premiere)
On the eve of surgery, Sam comes home to pack and to fight for his mother’s love.
A high-stakes, lyrical encounter between an African-American mother and her transgender son, by Bay Area playwright Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko, directed by Those Women Productions’ Associate Artist Norman Patrick Johnson.
Cast
SAM … Gabby Momah
MOM … Jasmine Williams
CHOCOLATE … Troy Rockett
Understudy for SAM … Jennifer McNeal (playing the role of SAM on March 30)
-
Revelation (West Coast Premiere)
It’s judgment day, and John finds himself buried next to Mary. She claims to recognize him, but she is nothing like any woman John has ever known.
A darkly comic tour through changing gender roles and social expectations, by Canadian playwright Shirley Barrie, directed by Those Women Productions’ Associate Artist Lily Tung Crystal.
Cast
MARY … Jeannie Barroga
JOHN … Lijesh Krishnan
The Production & Design Team is:
CO-PRODUCERS … Carol Lashof & Elizabeth Vega
STAGE MANAGER … Aurelia Moulin
PROPS DESIGNER … Lindsay Krumbein
COSTUME DESIGNER … Lindsay Krumbein
SCENIC DESIGNER … Celeste Martore
SOUND DESIGNER … Samuel Raskin
LIGHTING DESIGNER … Bert van Aalsburg
Performance schedule:
Friday, March 23: 8 PM (Preview)
Saturday, March 24: 8 PM (Press Opening)
Sunday, March 25: 2 PM
Friday, March 30: 8 PM
Saturday, March 31: 8 PM
Friday, April 6: 8 PM
Saturday, April 7: 8 PM
Sunday, April 8: 2 PM
This production is made possible by the generous support of the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission and Civic Arts Program, the Theatre Bay Area CA$H Grants Program, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the generous donations of many individual supporters. Those Women Productions is a Fractured Atlas sponsored project.
THOSE WOMEN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP AND THEME FOR NEW SEASON
Those Women Productions is pleased to announce that Lily Tung Crystal joins our leadership team this season as an Associate Artist. She will partner with Artistic Director Elizabeth Vega, Managing Director Carol Lashof, and returning Associate Artist Norman Patrick Johnson. Our main events for 2018 will be a staged reading of The Melting Pot by Carol Lashof; Shifting Spaces, a trio of one-act plays which shift the way we think about gender roles and identity; and the West Coast Premiere of Woman On Fire by Marisela Treviño Orta.
Those Women Productions was founded in 2014 by Carol Lashof and Elizabeth Vega with a mission to stage hidden truths of gender and power. In 2015, it was named “Best Year-Old Theater Company” by the East Bay Express. From the beginning, Those Women Productions has practiced “Radical Hospitality”: All shows are choose-your-own price; everyone is welcome regardless of ability to pay.
“Crossing Borders” is the theme for our season of new plays planned for 2018. The borders in question are literal and metaphorical, metaphysical and actual; they are of gender, race, nationality, and space-time.
The season begins with a staged reading of The Melting Pot, by Carol S. Lashof. The Melting Pot remixes early 20th century sources, including Israel Zangwill’s wildly popular melodrama of the same name, to tell a quintessentially American love story – Boy meets Girl, and Nation meets Metaphor. The reading will be directed by Elizabeth Vega and will feature performances by Lily Tung Crystal and Norman Patrick Johnson. It will also feature original music by Berkeley jazz musician and composer Erika Oba. Performances are Saturday, January 20, 4 pm and 8 pm at the Temescal Art Center, 511 48th St, Oakland.
Those Women Productions received a generous grant from the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission this year, which will help support our spring production at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley: Shifting Spaces is a trio of bold one-act plays featuring characters who fight to claim their full human identities within restrictive social structures.
The plays of Shifting Spaces are:
- vessels (World Premiere)
It’s Germany—1944. Are you a bitch or a whore? Is she your lover, friend, sister, acquaintance, colleague, or occasion for sin?
Commissioned for the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, this poetic drama reveals the little-known stories of lesbians in Nazi Germany, written by Kim Yaged, directed by Elizabeth Vega.
- S/He (World Premiere)
On the eve of surgery, Sam comes home to pack and to confront his mother about being trans.
A high-stakes, lyrical encounter between an African-American mother and her transgender son, by Bay Area playwright Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko, directed by Norman Patrick Johnson.
- Revelation (West Coast Premiere)
It’s judgment day, and John, a young man, finds himself buried beside Mary, an old woman, who claims to recognize him. But she’s nothing like any woman he’s ever known.
A darkly comic tour through changing gender roles and social expectations, by Canadian playwright Shirley Barrie, directed by Lily Tung Crystal.
Shifting Spaces opens Friday, March 23, 2018 (press opening), and plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through April 8 (no performance on Easter Sunday, April 1) at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.
Those Women Productions finishes our season with the West Coast Premiere of Woman on Fire, an explosive and relevant play by Bay Area favorite Marisela Treviño Orta, directed by Elizabeth Vega.
Set in 2002 under the specter of the 9/11 terror attacks, Woman on Fire is a re-imagining of Sophocles’ Antigone set along the Arizona/Mexico border. The ghost of a woman who died while crossing the border haunts the unwilling heroine Juanita, the wife of a U.S. border patrolman. Juanita finds herself torn between the law of man and a higher law when she must decide whether to put her husband’s career and their marriage at risk in order to give the restless spirit the proper burial she demands.
Woman on Fire opens in August, 2018, at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.
Those Women Productions practices Radical Hospitality: we welcome everybody to our shows regardless of their ability to pay. We also like to pay our artists, in recognition of their valuable work and because we love them and want them to have food. How do we manage this? With help from our extraordinarily generous community, including many of you who are reading this newsletter right now. In fact, (spoiler alert) we’re about to launch our annual fundraising campaign to make our 2018 season a success. Please consider an early donation. We will sing your praises in the programs of our shows all year long!
PATRIARCHY WEIGHING YOU DOWN?
MAKE A BREAK FOR IT!
Shapeshifters, time-travelers, and rebellious women take the stage in:
ESCAPE VELOCITY
A collection of fantastical new short plays by Victoria Chong Der, Carol S. Lashof, Genevieve Jessee, and Madeline Puccioni.
Directed by Norman Patrick Johnson and Elizabeth Vega.
Performed by Lijesh Krishnan, Brianna Rodriguez, J. Adan Ruiz, Brittany Sims, Julie Ann Valdez, and Loralee Windsor.
Production team: Bert van Aalsburg*, Laura Cox, JJ Hersh, William Newton, and Samuel Raskin.
*Member, Actors’ Equity Association.
tickets & more information: http://escapevelocity.brownpapertickets.com/
All shows are choose your own price. Suggested price: $25, no minimum.
Tickets available in advance via Brown Paper Tickets or at the door, beginning 45 minutes before each show (cash or checks only at the door).
WHERE: Temescal Art Center, 511 48th Street, just off Telegraph Avenue in North Oakland.
WHEN: February 17-25, 2017
Friday, February 17: 8 pm (Opening)
Saturday, February 18: 4 pm & 8 pm
Friday, February 24: 8 pm
Saturday, February 25: 4pm** & 8 pm
**This performance will benefit Girls Inc. of Alameda County, inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold.
September 1, 2016: Berkeleyside features Those Women Productions:
Carol Lashof and Libby Vega aren’t ashamed to reveal their infatuations with the “dead white guys” who populate the Western Canon.
The founders of Berkeley theater company Those Women Productions cut their teeth on Shakespeare, Homer and Sophocles. Now, instead of shunning the classic works, the avowed feminists read between the lines of their favorite texts. They pull out the subplots that resonate with them and the characters they believe deserve more airtime. … READ MORE
to MARGARET OF ANJOU
at the Live Oak Theatre in North Berkeley
THOSE WOMEN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
MARGARET OF ANJOU
BY LAUREN JANSEN-PARKES
& WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
DIRECTED BY LIBBY VEGA
A high-stakes drama of betrayal, intrigue and medieval power politics – eerily relevant to the present moment in American politics
August 25-September 11, 2016
Live Oak Theatre
1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA
Those Women Productions practices Radical Hospitality: Everyone is invited, regardless of ability to pay.
Running August 25-September 11, 2016, Those Women Productions will stage the world premiere of Margaret of Anjou at Live Oak Theatre at the corner of Shattuck & Berryman in Berkeley’s “gourmet ghetto” neighborhood. For this, their fourth show, Those Women Productions joins forces with British playwright Lauren Jansen-Parkes and their favorite Dead White Guy, William Shakespeare, to tell the hidden story of Margaret of Anjou who ruled England during the Wars of the Roses and was Commander-in-Chief for the House of Lancaster (inspiration for the “Lannisters” in George R. R. Martin’s “The Game of Thrones”). Combining original material with text adapted from Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays and Richard III, Jansen-Parkes has wrought a new Shakespearean history play that brings Margaret to the center of the stage.
Margaret of Anjou is directed by Libby Vega. It features Maria Grazia Affinito* as Margaret, Bobby August Jr*, Ed Berkeley, Lily Tung Crystal*, Sharon Huff*, Melissa Locsin*, Norman Patrick Johnson, Eric Newman*, Karl Schackne, and Nic Sommerfeld.
The production team includes Bert van Aalsburg*, Monica Bowker, Arashi Cesana, Jane Davis, Eli Goodfriend, Blair Fullerton, Carol Lashof, Megan Messinger, Genevieve Perdue, Samuel Raskin, Audrey Ronningen, Sydney Schwindt, and Suzanne Vito.
*Member, Actors’ Equity Association.
Margaret of Anjou is an Equity-approved project.