Babes With Blades Theatre Company present ‘The Duchess of Malfi’
When I moved to Chicago the summer of 2019, one of the first shows I booked was The Duchess of Malfi with Babes With Blades Theatre Company. We started rehearsals in the beginning of March 2020… but then the world had other plans! Finally, 3 years later, I’m still living in Chicago, still available to do this show, and BWBTC is still producing it! Like last time, I’ll be playing the roles of Julia and Doctor, in addition to understudying the Duchess. Rehearsals have already begun with no signs of stopping. It’s going to be a bloody good time!
Get your tickets when they go on sale starting August 21st HERE! Show runs September 9 through October 21.
About the Show
When the widowed Duchess of Malfi chooses to love again, honestly and defiantly, the men in her family do everything in their power to break those that would dare to flout the unspoken rules of a “traditional” society. “Despite the 407 years between the premiere of Duchess of Malfi and today, in some ways very little has changed,” states Rice. “This production will focus on the (unfortunately timeless) theme of the power held, and desperately clung to, by a patriarchal society, and how something as simple as two people openly loving each other outside of that dichotomy is an inherent threat to those in power (then and today). Toxic masculinity is still an insidious disease. It lashes out at marginalized communities. It also eats away at some men, making them feel, to paraphrase a section of the text, like they’re ‘wearing a wolf-skin that is hairy on the inside.'”
Cast
Clara Byczkowski (She/They) Antonio
Carrie Hardin (She/Her) Duchess
Carina Lastimosa (She/Her) Julia/Doctor; U/S Duchess
Hazel Monson (She/Her) Delio
Shane Richlen (He/Him) Ferdinand
Carlos Wagener-Sobrero (He/They) Cardinal
Maureen Yasko (She/Her) Bosola
Annemarie Andaleon (She/Her) U/S Antonio/Delio/Julia
Grant Brown (He/Him) U/S Ferdinand/Cardinal
Anika Flores (She/Her) U/S Bosola/Doctor
Production Team
Hayley Rice (She/Her) Director
Esau Andaleon (He/Him) Stage Manager
Rose Hamill (She/Her) Production Manager
Maya Vinice Prentiss (She/Her) Fight Choreographer
Stephanie Mattos (She/Her) Assistant Fight Choreographer
Marcus Klein (He/Him) Scenic Design
Laura Wiley (She/Her) Lighting Design
Line Bower (They/Them) Technical Director
Jennifer Mohr (She/Her) Costume Design
Kiera Battles (She/Her) Sound Design
Meg X McGrath (They/Them) Props Design
Jennifer L. Mickelson (She/Her) Intimacy Designer
Payton Shearn (She/They) Production Assistant
