Reading Room Festival Q&As

Karen Ann Daniels discusses her hopes for what will happen during the Reading Room Festival’s open rehearsal of her play, a musical exploration of the songs in Much Ado About Nothing and the comedy’s hero, Beatrice.

Hamlet co-adaptor Reynaldo Piniella, who also plays the titular role, reflects on how the play has evolved, how the bilingualism fosters a sense of intimacy and connection, and hopes for the play’s future.

Dramaturg Julissa Contreras shares more about working with a bilingual translation of a play by Shakespeare’s contemporary Ana Caro Mallén de Soto, the joys of expanding the canon beyond Shakespeare, and the gendered issues of the play that still resonate today.

“I was particularly intrigued by the concept of ‘honest Iago’ and what honesty truly signifies in the context of gender roles,” writes Mary Chieffo.

Austin Dean Ashford shares more about his one-person show, “Rap Monologues,” which fuses hip hop history, humor, and a fresh perspective on the classics.

“I wanted to write a play that allowed these characters to speak in Jewish voices for the first time,” writes Mantell about Everything That Never Happened.

Learn more about what to expect for The Reading Room Festival’s “interactive interrogation” of Shakespeare’s Othello, Act III, scene iii, at Folger Theatre.

Carmen Pelaez shares how she was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and why she set her play The Cuban Vote amid a political campaign in Miami.