Monday, May 17, 2021

The Maid a Semifinalist

I can now announce that my play The Maid was a semifinalist for the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries program at the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia.

Last year the play Shakespeare or the Devil, which I cowrote with Matt Bird, was named a finalist in the contest. Alas, I cannot announce that this year for The Maid, as it will not be advancing to the next round.

The Maid responds to the first play in Shakespeare's King Henry VI trilogy. Instead of focusing on the English hero, John Talbot, however, it focuses in on Joan of Arc, who appears as Joan La Pucelle in Shakespeare's play.

Talbot does appear as a character in The Maid, however, which makes other references to the Shakespeare trilogy as well. It's disappointing that the American Shakespeare Center won't be performing the work, but perhaps some other theatre will pick it up in the future.