Unifying six notable William Shakespeare heroines, Brookdale Community College’s Performing Arts Center showcased its play,”When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet.”
The light-hearted comedy, authored by Charles George, imagines an encounter between Shakespeare heroines Juliet, Ophelia, Cleopatra, Portia, Katharine and Desdemona, who come together to discuss Juliet’s blossoming love for Romeo. Throughout the one-act play, each woman offers young Juliet her own advice on the best approach to a new romance, according to a prepared statement from Brookdale Community College.
The cast features Amani Alnababteh, of East Brunswick, as Portia; Amanda Canny, of Middletown, as Katharine; Theresa Maxwell, of Middletown, as Ophelia; Samantha McClelland, of Freehold, as Desdemona; Sophia Parola, of Manalapan, as Cleopatra; and Charlee Reiff, of Ocean Township, as Juliet. The play was directed by Brookdale Community College Theater Professor John Bukovec, according to a prepared statement.
The all-female cast performed the play Feb. 9-18 at Brookdale’s Lincroft campus. Present and former Brookdale students as well as local actors were eligible to perform.
A lifelong Middletown resident, Canny said she attended the college for one year from 2012-13.
“I haven’t been acting too long. I started acting through high school when I was a freshman and I did it all four years of high school. In college, I didn’t do any acting at all and I missed it, so that’s why I auditioned for ‘When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet.’ This was my first time acting in about five years,” she said.
In the play, Katharine doesn’t give Juliet a lot of advice because she thinks Juliet should learn on her own. The only thing Katharine tells her is to make sure she doesn’t let Romeo get too bossy in the relationship, according to Canny.
“Katharine is the main female character from Shakespeare’s play called ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’ She is a loud, opinionated, strong and sometimes rude woman, so it is difficult for her to get married. In ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ it’s about her meeting a man named Petruchio and how he subdues her to be quieter and calmer. At the end of the play, they marry,” Canny said.
Canny said she auditioned for Brookdale’s play because it sounded fun and she had missed acting in theater.
“I most enjoyed the small, devoted cast of all women. It’s not often that women get to shine by themselves so I was happy to work with these smart, insightful actresses. We were all willing to push ourselves and experiment with our show. I also loved how unique the play is. We performed in a very intimate space. It’s a short show, and the play really [felt] like watching a big conversation rather than watching a traditional, dramatic story,” Canny said.
A lifelong Middletown resident, Maxwell said this is her second year at the college where she is majoring in theater.
“I auditioned because I wanted another opportunity to grow as an actor and I found the play to be funny and different than anything I had read before. I love Shakespeare and the idea of a play focusing on some of his most interesting female characters was very intriguing to me,” she said.
Casted in the role of Ophelia, Maxwell said Ophelia is a character from the play “Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s more well-known tragedies.
According to Maxwell, Ophelia is a young woman who falls in love with Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. Hamlet woos her with letters and the beginning of their romance is a happy one; however, when Hamlet’s father, the king, is murdered, Hamlet becomes obsessed with revenge. His obsession drives him to madness, and his behavior toward Ophelia become erratic and cruel. He tells her that he never loved her. Even worse, Hamlet later kills Ophelia’s father, Polonius. This loss drives Ophelia to madness, and she eventually dies by drowning, having thrown herself into a lake.
“The version of Ophelia in ‘When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet,’ [she] has already suffered those losses and [has] gone mad, but has not yet died. She warns Juliet against falling in love, citing her own tragedy as reason to be wary of romance,” Maxwell said.
“In ‘When Shakespeare Ladies Meet,’ Ophelia offers her own unique advice to Juliet. Ophelia is ‘nutty as a Yuletide fruitcake,’ as Katharine describes her, so her advice is not always as coherent and straightforward as the others,” Maxwell said. “Ramblings aside, ultimately her message to Juliet is ‘be careful [and] don’t be so quick to fall for Romeo, because he may hurt you.’”
She continued, “At the beginning Ophelia says, ‘With too credent ear [Juliet] must not list his songs or lose her heart.’ This basically means that she must not trust Romeo. What’s interesting about this quote is it’s taken directly out of ‘Hamlet.’ It’s originally said to Ophelia by her brother, Laertes, who is warning her against falling for Hamlet. It seems that Ophelia is trying to get Juliet to heed the advice she ignored.”
Maxwell said she has always wanted to act, but did not start until she got to Brookdale. At the college she has been taking acting classes and has been involved in several other productions.
According to Maxwell, there was so much to enjoy about being in this play, but the best part was working with her fellow cast members.
“They have made this experience so special. In a show like this one, with such a small cast and performance space, the most important factor is communication. It is vital that the characters are connected to each other in a way that is real and palpable,” Maxwell said. “The cast became very close over the rehearsal process, and we truly found what it means to be an ensemble. Everyone was always present and enthusiastic, which allowed us to come together and create something special.”
For more information about the Brookdale Community College Performing Arts Center, visit www.brookdalecc.edu/pac/.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].