Shakespeare’s Margaret: The Dramatic Life of A Warrior Queen

Theater critic O’Malley (editor of Toward a Just Pedagogy of Performance) and lawyer Stern (The Trials of Nina McCall) assemble an enthralling history of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Margaret of Anjou, who married Henry VI at 14 and ruled during the War of Roses. More than 100 years later, Shakespeare wrote Margaret into four plays (all three parts of Henry VI and Richard III), amping up her sexuality and ambition for audiences who’d grown weary with the day’s “didactic morality tales.” The authors trace the character’s evolution in subsequent centuries, noting how some adaptations reduced Margaret’s role (she was entirely cut from Colley Cibber’s 1700 version of Richard III), though she reemerged in productions of the late 19th and 20th centuries with memorable performances from Peggy Ashcroft and Helen Mirren. Later, the 1990s and 2000s saw her “challenging, morally murky narrative” serve as a vehicle for playwrights to explore race, empire, and gender. O’Malley and Stern ingeniously probe the sweep of Shakespearean history, touching on everything from the economic realities of producing theatre in the 16th century to the varied political climates in which adaptations have been staged, ranging from Margaret Thatcher’s Britain to 1930s Germany. The result is a fascinating biography of a singular character and a revealing commentary on theater’s power to evolve with the times. (June)