This is a Classic: The Expand the Canon Theatre Podcast

Island Shakespeare Festival, off the coast of Seattle, has committed to produce THREE YEARS of Expand the Canon plays! ISF Artistic Director Olena Hodges chats with Hedgepig's Artistic Director Emily Lyon –– who is directing the first ISF partnership play, A Bold Stroke for a Husband –– about the 'bold' move to partner with us and produce these titles.

If you’re looking for a farcical skewering of the aristocracy that evokes an Arrested Development for the 18th century… consider this contemporary roast of old-money values. The notable Von Ahnensoltz family deigns to allow a bourgeois gentleman to marry their noble daughter… and pay off all their debts, of course. However, their daughter isn’t sold, instead creating delicious chaos with her forme...

If you’re looking for an ethereal folk story about the perils of love and loneliness… consider this elusively modern take on a traditional Chilean folktale. Legend has it that long ago, three lonely women lived in harmony alongside a lake – until their lives were altered forever by a mysterious stranger with whom they each fell in love. Driven to extremes by forbidden love and the gendered constra...

Repertorio Español has a festival of Golden Age Classics –– and this summer, they're all by women! Emily and Gagarin chat with director Kathleen Capdesuner, who's directing our 2020 List play, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz's Los Empeños de Una Casa. Like most shows at Repertorio, it will be performed in Spanish –– but Kathleen shares her vision for how this show (of course!) is for everyon...

If you’re looking for the German Jane Austen’s riff on a marriage plot where the impressionable ingenue turns out to be a shrewd strategist… consider this fresh, delicate romantic comedy. Löwenberg needs his Uncle’s approval for his intended marriage to Anna, but he knows he’ll never get it from such an avowed bachelor... unless he can trick his Uncle into falling in love with his beloved himself!...

If you’re looking for a wistful story about immigration, identity, and the American dream…  then dive into the powerful yet sparse world of Wakako Yamauchi’s And the Soul Shall Dance . Set in Great Depression Era California, this play follows two Japanese immigrant families and their young daughters as they struggle to make ends meet, integrate into US society, and survive the whims of nature and...

We initially connected with Roundabout Theatre's Refocus Project in 2021, when they used the first Expand the Canon list to create their first Refocus list! Now we have even more crossover, including both working with curator Kalina Ko. Emily and Kalina chat with Roundabout's Literary Director Anna Morton about the origin of Refocus, how they've grown, and the necessity of programs tha...

If you’re looking to gamble on love with this multi-generational comedy featuring headstrong heroines and aging Romeos… consider this raunchy Restoration Comedy about sex, marriage, and consent. The ripened, spry, and sometimes lecherous Sir Cautious Fulbank and Sir Feeble Fainwou’d used their money and status to land young wives. But both wives had young suitors they already loved… who are trying...

This Is A Classic returns! And we have new voices! Listen in to get to know our new curators. This season we're covering all the plays in the 2022 Expand the Canon List, as well as serving up exciting interviews with other incredible artistic leaders whose work is adding to our knowledge of the classics. Episodes will air weekly on Wednesdays! Expandthecanon.com

If you’re looking to tackle race, imperialism, and the prejudice of the Western world towards African countries… consider this mesmerizing masterpiece. Set in a rural Christian mission in an unnamed African country, this play explores the complexities of navigating personal relationships across racial divides when every decision you make is inherently political. Intricate, atmospheric, and shimmer...

If you’re looking for a Restoration play with even more hijincks than Merry Wives of Windsor… consider this energetic, bawdy comedy that centers around the tricksy courtship of the clever Clarabell and the rakish Rightwit. Through a series of deceptions, plots, pranks, and manipulations, they find a way to be together – and manage to marry off everyone else in the cast as well. Complete with dolti...

If you want a high-octane alternative to Two Gentlemen of Verona … consider this tight rollercoaster of a poetic play instead. Here, two of the closest friends fall deeply in love with the same woman. Spurred on by an Iago-like character, the plot careens toward a tragic end – yet each character reflects on the ramifications of their actions, which makes it all the more impactful. Fall in love—and...

Victoria Collado is a Cuban-American director who lead our reading of A Happy Country in 2021's Expand the Canon festival! We loved her insights and approach to the play, discussing its translation, and her reasons that this Maruxa Vilalta play is a classic. She chats with Skye Pagon and Shannon Corenthin. ExpandtheCanon.com bit.ly/HedgepigMemberships https://www.victoriacollado.com/

If you’re seeking a play about revolution where the family drama is the political drama… consider this powerful portrait of love, protest, class, and voyeurism. This play follows the recently impoverished Jiménez family in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country as complex conversations are brought to the foreground by the arrival of a tourist staying in their home. How do you balance your activism wi...

If you’re looking for a fun rom-com where your wingman is a flock of wingwomen … consider this witty Restoration comedy. A rollicking, hilarious, and touching tale of Mrs Rich, the wealthy widow of a banker, who wants to marry a Lord to improve her social status. She listens to all the wrong people for advice– eventually leading her straight into the arms of a notable rogue. Through sparkling disc...

If you’re looking for a clever class comedy by a Noel Coward contemporary… consider this zany play that takes on tradition, marriage, and capitalism. The spoiled but sweet Wanru has a watchful father… who she is desperate to avoid when sneaking in her hot new boyfriend. In this story, family is often run like a business and financial prospects are important across the board – but not everyone is c...

Catherine Boyle is a professor, as well as one of our favorite translators. You may know her from our 2020 list, having translated Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz's House of Desires. Luckily for us, she's been working on a title from our 2021 List – Ana Caro's Valor, Agravio, y Mujer! For more information on Out of the Wings, visit: https://outofthewings.org/ Mary and Skye host this fun conv...

If you want a scorned heroine who is determined to live in a revenge tragedy but accidentally finds herself in a comedy… consider this Spanish Golden Age play. With cross dressing, love triangles, swordplay, and soaring verse, this is a celebration of women’s agency. Doña Leonora dresses like a man and crosses Europe to get revenge on her ungrateful ex who left her unmarriageable. Along the way, s...

If you’re looking for something a bit lighter in your Ibsen or Shaw slot … consider this deft comedy where the girl finally learns to stand up for herself. An enjoyable romp through Bourges, France, this play speaks to anyone who has gotten stuck in a relationship with someone truly selfish. Henri, the idealized love of Francoise, is “a central role without precedent in French literature” – yet wh...

Director and Founder of CLASSIX Awoye Timpo sits down with Mary & Shannon (amidst directing Alice Childress' Wedding Band at TFANA!) to talk about her work –– and what makes Efua Sutherland's Foriwa a classic. CLASSIX was created by theatre director Awoye Timpo to explode the classical canon through an exploration of Black performance history and dramatic works by Black writers. https:...

If you’re looking for a story about a small community and love akin to Our Town ... consider this play about how an overlooked outsider and two powerful women can shake a community out of a slump. Set in a small Ghanaian village, a love story emerges, challenging the town to reconcile tradition with modernity. Relatable across the globe, this sweet yet brave look into a slice of Ghanaian life show...

Lots to look forward to -- including SPECIAL GUESTS and a DISCOUNT CODE! Alice Childress' Wedding Band (from our 2020 List!) is being produced at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn this April & May. Use code PigPal65 for discount tickets. We chat with director Awoye Timpo, who also leads Classix (https://www.theclassix.org/our-vision) about Alice Childress and why she's a classic!

If you want to take on the pandemic, privilege, and systemic racism with grace and heart… then you need to look to Alice Childress. A compassionate yet candid look at the complexities of prejudice, Wedding Band focuses on love and the forces that try to tear it down. The play follows Julia, a Black woman, through the complexities of an interracial relationship in 1918 Charleston, South Carolina. T...

If you’re dreaming about a combination of the musical folklore of Hadestown and Oklahoma … Spunk is a theatrical event (with music). An expansion of her well-loved short story (but with a more joyous ending), this play centers on the relationship between a married woman and a loveable wandering musician named Spunk. It is a humorous, moving portrait of a small-town Black community in the 1930s. Fi...

If you’re interested in the intersection of art and politics… consider these one-act plays! In Restless Night , two college students debate the virtues of creating art or abandoning it all to become a political activist -– both coming close to understanding each other, though not seeing eye to eye. A Hell of Her Own delves into similar questions: is rebellion more virtuous than being… well, virtuo...