Staged reading of "Elizabeth I: To Speak or Use Silence" is March 2

Photo Credit: Poster for Elizabeth I To Speak or Use Silence
Fri, 02/22/2019 - 11:26

A staged reading of the play "Elizabeth I: To Speak or Use Silence" will take place March 2 at 2:00 p.m. in the Nebraska Union, Colonial Room.

Carole Levin, Willa Cather professor of history and director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies program, wrote the play, which grew out of a collaboration with Tamara Meneghini, an actress and associate professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

"Characters include both an older and younger Elizabeth; the ghost of her mother, Anne Boleyn; her rival, Mary Stuart; three of her ladies in waiting, Kat Ashley, Mary Dudley Sidney, and Mary Fitton; and some of the favorites of her court such as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex," Levin said, adding that Meneghini will play the part of the older Queen Elizabeth.

Student readers:

  • Andrew Asplin, English
  • Jessa Bateman, English and Medieval and Renaissance Studies
  • Sam Guido, History
  • AJ Kraemer, Global Studies and Spanish
  • Clare Moorhouse, Nutrition and Exercise Health Science
  • Jose Vasqez, History (pre-law)
  • Olivia Youlden, English and Communication Studies
  • Jamison Wyatt, History
  • Ben Reed, English (Ph.D.) with a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

The play is a Mary Martin McLaughlin Memorial Event sponsored by the Women’s Center, the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program, the Department of History, and the Honors Program. McLaughlin received her B.A. and M.A. in history from the university in 1940 and 1941 before pioneering the field of medieval women's studies at Columbia University.

Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment are providing additional support.

Visit the play's website to learn more.