‘Weird Sisters’ Reinvent the Bard, Women Only
The works of the immortal Bard get a new treatment this weekend in Austin. Photo courtesy Weird Sisters Women's Theatre CollectiveAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In his day, the works of William Shakespeare were performed by all-male casts. Even female characters were played by men.
These days, one Austin theater group is turning that on its head. It’s called the Weird Sisters Women’s Theater Collective.
Michael Graupmann writes about the group this week over at CultureMap. He says the group’s founders realized in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the women were virtually silent in all of the show’s second act, while the male characters solve the problems at hand.
Unsatisfied with that reality, these women designed their ideal theater company that critiqued and transformed The Bard’s powerful but often misogynistic plays. And as the name implies, The Weird Sisters do things a little differently than other theater companies in town.
First off, they reject many of the regular practices of traditional theater companies. All of the individuals involved in each production are women. That’s not to say men aren’t welcome to support the shows, but the performance process is a safe space for women to perform and commune together.
KUT’s Matt Largey speaks with Graupmann about the group’s latest performance.
