Jackey Boelkow in Voices Found Repertory’s Margaret of Anjou
Jackey Boelkow in Voices Found Repertory’s Margaret of Anjou
William Shakespeare’s dramatic adaptation of the War of the Roses comprised a long series. The exhaustive saga consisting of Henry VI parts 1-3 and Richard III has a runtime that would rival any contemporary Hollywood sci-fi/fantasy movie franchise. The four-part epic would take an eternity to stage in its entirety.
This month, Voices Found Repertory presents Margaret, a selective retelling of the saga from the perspective of one of its strongest characters: Margaret of Anjou. The 15th century Queen of England who led the Lancastrian forces during the wars was a powerful figure in British history and a well-respected strategist. Voices Found brings the drama of the story to a staged reading featuring an 11-person cast including Jackey Boelkow in the title role of Margaret. The charismatic UW Stevens Point grad is no stranger to the role, having played her in the Prague Shakespeare Company’s European premier of The Death of Kings: Seize the Crown.
Margaret makes its way to the stage courtesy of an adaptation by director Jessica Trznadel. During a summer Shakespeare training intensive, one of Trznadel’s favorite scenes involved an interaction between Margaret and Suffolk from Henry VI - Part 2. “I had never seen any of the Henry VI plays.” Trznadel says. “That scene was so beautiful, it made me curious why those plays didn't get done much.” Shakespeare’s histories are a challenge for any theater group. There is a hell of a lot winding through those scripts. All of the Shakespearian narrative clutter is particularly tragic for a potentially towering character like Margaret. “She’s the only central character who appears in all four War of the Roses plays, and her story is so compelling in each,” Trznadel continued. “I thought that following her journey could be an exciting way to take on those plays.”
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Any attempt to distill four lengthy plays down into a single, coherent narrative is going to be extremely difficult. The War of the Roses inhabit a textured and intricate period in history. In adaptation, the complexities of ancient politics fuse into smaller conflicts between individual characters. Trznadel had to cut a lot of scenes she really liked including a scene involving witchcraft. Focusing the play entirely on Margaret as the central character of the show imbues her with the kind of weight usually reserved for stage legends like Hamlet or Macbeth.
One point in history crashes into another as Margaret makes its way to a reading in the cozy back room at Sugar Maple this month. Trznadel has faced challenges trying to organize rehearsals with a large cast during a particularly bad wave of COVID. “We’ve got a really talented group of actors that have been good about going with the flow.” Trznadle says. “They also come from a lot of different backgrounds with Shakespeare. Some have a lot of experience acting Shakespeare, some are really well versed in the history, and others are newer to classical and are really eager to try something new.”
Voices Found Repertory’s staged reading of Margaret runs Feb. 10 - 13 at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave. For more information, visit voicesfoundrep.com.
