Synopsis

The First Actress

$13

Ben Orkow

Published by Dramatists Play Service

2 Female

Befriending a group of strolling players who have been thrown into her father's jail, the lovely young Felicia helps them escape

She then heads off to London with their promise that they will assist in furthering her theatrical ambitions - even though the laws of the time prohibited females on stage

Disguising herself as a boy (which leads to a number of tense - and funny - situations), and with no help from her supposed "friends," Felicia meets both Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, the leading actor of his company

Taken on as a stagehand, "Felix" soon progresses to featured women's roles - culminating in a luminous command performance of Romeo and Juliet for Queen Elizabeth. In the end Felicia is found out, but mercifully forgiven

while along the way the play teems with humor, colorful action and a stirring sense of the places, people and mood of the fascinating era which it so eloquently evokes

First presented by the Shakespeare Society of America at the Globe Theatre, in Los Angeles, this warm-hearted and inventive play tells the story of a young girl who sets out to become an actress in 16th-century England-when women were forbidden by law to appear on the stage

"It has the elements to interest a contemporary audience of all ages a play which stirs the imagination" ~ Los Angeles Free Press

Cast of 11 men and 12 women required

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