Compleat Female Stage Beauty

Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher

directed Luisa Sermol*^

A live ARC Stream 

Written by Barrymore Award winning playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, the Actors’ Reading Collective’s production of Compleat Female Stage Beauty tells the story of the most famous portrayer of female roles on the London stage, Ned Kynaston. A celebrity to the highest degree, Kynaston is applauded onstage and off for his interpretations of Shakespeare’s tragic heroines: Ophelia, Cleopatra, and especially his Desdemona.

It is 1660 and toward the end of the Renaissance, London based theatres are re-opening after an 18-year hiatus (sound familiar?) and only men were legally allowed onstage. After King Charles II decides to allow women to play female roles, Kynaston’s world is turned upside-down. And as his light dims, women become the stars, including the king’s own courtesan, Nell, and Kynaston’s former dresser, Maria. Will Kynaston’s desire for revenge give him a chance to take the stage again? Is the spotlight big enough for everyone?

Cast:

Rotimi Agbabiaka*, Chris Ayles *^, Mary Baird, James Carpenter*^, Ron Chapman*, Anthony Fusco*^, Amy Kossow*, Catherine Luedtke*, Carrie Paff*^, Robert Parsons*, Marcia Pizzo*^, Timothy Redmond*^, Giovanni Rodriguez, Mia Tagano*^,  

and Michael Ray Wisely*^

*Member, Actors' Equity

^Member, Screen Actors' Guild