“It is delightful to undress a man, and find a woman inside." - Edmond, Act I, Scene ii

High humor and human drama collide in a rollicking comedy “so clever it uplifts, so timely it hurts” (The New York Times). In 1899, legendary leading lady Sarah Bernhardt’s decision to assume the title role of Shakespeare’s Hamlet left critics and patriarchs aghast and indignant. Laced with forbidden romance and backstage gossip, this behind-the-scenes look at Bernhardt’s most ambitious role is a “dynamic character study” (Variety) of one of the most famous actresses—and infamous divas—in the world.

EXPLORE THE 2019/2020 SEASON

• Playwright, Theresa Rebeck

  Theresa Rebeck's many plays have been widely produced on and off Broadway, regionally and internationally. This fall, her fourth Broadway play, Bernhardt/Hamlet, premiered on Broadway and her play Downstairs opened at Primary Stages starring Tim Daly and Tyne Daly. Other Broadway works include Dead Accounts; Seminar and Mauritius. Other notable NY and regional plays include Seared, The Water's Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels (Second Stage), Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House (Playwrights Horizons), The Understudy (Roundabout Theatre Company), View of the Dome (New York Theatre Workshop), What We’re Up Against (Women’s Project), Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize Finalist).

  As a director, her work has been seen at The Alley Theater of Houston, Dorset Theater Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Shakespeare Theater. She recently wrote and directed the independent feature Trouble, starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse. In television, she is best known for her work on NYPD Blue and for creating the NBC series Smash. As a novelist, Rebeck’s books include Three Girls and Their Brother and I'm Glad About You.

  Rebeck is the recipient of the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, a Lilly Award and more.

  

• Director, Donna Feore

  Donna Feore is one of Canada’s most versatile and in-demand creative talents, highly praised for her work as a Director and Choreographer at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Productions include Billy Elliot, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man, The Rocky Horror Show (the longest-running show in Stratford history), Guys and Dolls and a revolutionary new production of A Chorus Line permitting original choreography for the first time ever.

  She was the Creative Producer and Director for Life Reflected at the National Arts Centre, Director of the stage adaptation of The Hockey Sweater and has directed numerous operas and international productions. Other directing credits include Tom Stoppard’s Rock & Roll and It’s a Wonderful Life at Canadian Stage and Lecture on the Weather by John Cage and A Soldier’s Tale with F. Murray Abraham for the Detroit Symphony. Selected film and television work includes Mean Girls and Eloise.