FRIENDS NEAR AND FAR!

Here is the link to reserve tickets for Macbeth!

Due to our specific Equity contract, and also to be responsible *in the time of Covid,* audience will be capped at 99 people per show. To make sure you aren't turned away the night of, please reserve ahead of time!

We are requiring that you be vaccinated against Covid-19 and show your vax card upon entry to the Workroom. Please bring a comfortable mask to wear for the duration of the performance. KN95's are recommended! 

If you aren't feeling well and you have reserved a ticket, let me know and I can release it for someone else.

I'll keep you updated on ticket availability as we get closer.

Please let me know if you have any questions --> [email protected]

~*~*Can't wait for Halloweekend*~*~

Please visit the "Team" tab to learn all about this incredible cast!

For some, it'll be their first in-person audience in 18 months; for others, it'll be their first time performing Shakespeare in the U.S. And for me, it'll be the first time I'm producing a show on my own - and on one of my favorite days: Hallo-freakin-ween.

WHY ME?

I love Shakespeare.

I love theatre.

And I also love small ensembles of actors who take matters into their own hands and create a piece without waiting for permission from the "gatekeepers."

I'm designing a professional career for myself with Shakespeare at the helm. I spend a good portion of my waking life studying Shakespeare, guiding others through the text, untangling and illuminating the stories, and bringing the poetry to life in performance. This work has changed me as an actor and as a human. Conservatory, followed by continued, independent study, led me to playing Hamlet 6 months after graduating, working with Shakespeare students at Smith College and the Tom Todoroff Studio, performing for the UN, and co-founding a Shakespeare theatre company in Richmond, VA (Elsewhere Shakespeare). I also welcome beginner-minds and scholars alike into a twice-weekly online study group (the "Shakesnerds") to very slowly and methodically read Shakespeare's plays: we're currently reading Macbeth. We spent 7 months on Lear.

When an ambitious military captain is prophesized to become King of Scotland by three (evil?) witches, his desire for instant gratification becomes a treasonous, bloody unraveling.

Macbeth is one of the most exciting plays in Shakespeare's canon - and one of the best-known.

Without much confusing exposition, or difficult historical references, and a relatively small cast of characters, the story is accessible to a new (or rusty) audience. For experienced Shakes-fans, it holds some of the most memorable scenes and verse Shakespeare has to offer. There are also witches, a prophecy, hallucinations, and much blood - in other words, lots of built-in cheap thrill factor. I'm excited to welcome my first in-person audience (in almost two years) to a production at once linguistically stunning and poignant, delightfully, and fantastically frightening. Oh, and did I mention it's happening on Halloween? So that'll probably be cool/spooky.

Live theatre is coming back, hooray!

But we need more people creating more of it. In different ways, through different methods. 2020 taught our industry (and many others) that there are a few people at the top doing a lot of the shot-calling. Dictating what plays make up a season, who can own or be an artistic director of a theater, who can direct, who is allowed to speak up and who isn't.

2020 blasted open a personal realization for me: that spending most of my time scrambling for external validation from these people at the top doesn't make me feel good.

I also discovered that my artistic support network and the portal that allowed me into my "flow state" (out of collective world trauma, toward creation and away from destruction) all existed within this one realm: Shakespeare.

So, why Macbeth now?

Because:

#1) I want to share my love for Shakespeare with an audience.

#2) I want to create an opportunity for some of the artists I adore and admire to tell this classic story in their own way. Because they're pretty darn good at that.

There's also this really great new resource in my town called the Northampton Center for the Arts. They offer artist residencies and a dreamy warehouse-style performance venue: the Workroom. Most importantly, they share the mission of making art more accessible by supporting a first-time producer like me, and allowing me to put on a show with free admission. It's organizations like this that foster the budding careers of professional artists.

All this to say, I can't do it alone!

The style of theatre I'm producing is fondly known as "Shakespeare-in-a-Week." The process moves quickly. The "product" is all about the actors involved, their story-telling power, and Shakespeare's text. You may or may not see props. Costumes will come mostly from actors' own closets. We'll probably use a few chairs and a table. This kind of production is often the most compelling. It will probably end up looking something like this (with a few more masks in the audience):

However, as my budget spreadsheet continues to suggest, even the most bare-bones shows cost money to produce.

I'm crowdfunding to be able to:

1. compensate my actors the way I'd want to be compensated for my creative labor
2. honor Equity contract protocols
3. offer comfortable housing for my actors coming from far away
4. hire a Covid Compliance Person
5. pay the Workroom for use of their space, and
6. pay for spreading the word about this show (by printing posters, cards, creating press releases). 

A lot (or most?) of these funds usually come from ticket sales, but I'm fundraising so I can offer FREE admission. Free Shakespeare is a proven model that exists across the country. It helps break down the perceived barriers around Shakespeare as inaccessible to anyone other than scholars or season ticket-holders. By contributing, you're helping realize a community offering.

**There are two significant ways you can help out!**

1. CONTRIBUTE!

I'm required to raise at least 80% of my goal to keep the funds and defray the costs of making this show happen. Contributing in any way you can is a tremendous help. You can either pledge to receive a fun/witchy/personalized incentive, or contribute to a specific wishlist category.

2. SPREAD THE WORD!

I understand this is a difficult time. Covid ruined it. If you are not in a position to contribute financially, please spread the word about our show by telling your friends, posting on social media, emailing people who might be interested, and getting the word out! Feel free to copy and paste the text below to share the campaign!

This scrappy group of "Shakesnerds" is putting on Macbeth after one week of rehearsal and no director. AND it's on Halloween! Follow them and support their efforts at bit.ly/macbethattheworkroom

Join actor and first-time producer, @hilarygdennis, and her team on their journey to devise Macbeth in seven days for a live audience. @macbethattheworkroom

Macbeth? On Halloween?! I'm not excited - you're excited. Help the @macbethattheworkroom cast reach their goal!!

As a thank you for joining this campaign, I will keep you up-to-date on ongoing preparations, discoveries we make in the room, *performances,* and things we learned. And, as this is a model I would like to continue to explore, I'm hoping you'll stay tuned for similar projects in the future.

With Covid a new reality, I must also plan for the possibility that our show does not happen as scheduled. If the show must be postponed, we will keep the funds raised and reschedule Macbeth. Though it wouldn't happen on Halloween, we'd work just as hard to make it super spooky.

I am so grateful and honored to have you on this team. Now, let's go stir up some toil and trouble!