PLAY READING SERIES
Masks, mischief & midnight rendezvous—Aphra Behn’s The Rover is scandalously fun! Part of our Spring Play Reading Series.
Dive into Oklahoma Shakespeare’s Play Reading Series! Enjoy a reading of the play, then stick around for a lively chat with the cast. It’s all about celebrating the words on the page and sparking fun, thought‑provoking conversations together.
Synopsis Aphra Behn’s Restoration masterpiece crackles with energy, romance, and biting social commentary. The Rover follows a band of English cavaliers in Naples during Carnival, where masks, disguises, and flirtations lead to a whirlwind of seductions, duels, and daring escapes. At the center is the charming but rakish Willmore, whose pursuit of pleasure collides with the desires of strong-willed women determined to chart their own destinies.
Audiences are swept into a vibrant world of music, revelry, and intrigue, where questions of love, honor, and freedom are played out against the backdrop of a society in flux. Beneath the laughter and passion lies Behn’s sharp critique of gender roles, power, and the precarious position of women in a patriarchal world.
Why You’ll Love It 🌟 A landmark play by the first professional woman playwright in English literature 😂 A rollicking comedy of mistaken identities, witty banter, and carnival chaos 🎭 Colorful costumes, masks, and swordplay bring the Restoration stage to life ❤️ A bold exploration of love, desire, and independence that still resonates today
Presented by Oklahoma Shakespeare Join Oklahoma Shakespeare for this spirited romp through the streets of Naples, where Aphra Behn’s wit and daring shine as brightly as ever.
A witty new comedy by Erin Woods (Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker) that playfully unravels the rules of love, literature, and Regency society. Part of our Spring Play Reading Series.
Step into Oklahoma Shakespeare’s Play Reading Series! Hear the words come alive in a staged reading, then join the cast for a lively conversation. It’s all about celebrating the craft of storytelling and sparking fun, thought‑provoking dialogue together.
Synopsis Erin Woods, acclaimed author of Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker, brings her wit and charm to the Regency stage. How to Write a Regency Romance is a playful meta‑comedy that pulls back the curtain on the tropes we adore—spirited heroines, brooding gentlemen, and the delicate dance of courtship. As aspiring writers and would‑be lovers collide, the rules of romance are tested, twisted, and hilariously re‑imagined.
Audiences are swept into a world of drawing rooms, duels, and dazzling dialogue, where questions of love, art, and authenticity unfold against the backdrop of Regency society. Beneath the laughter lies Woods’s sharp exploration of gender, creativity, and the timeless allure of storytelling.
Why You’ll Love It 🌟 A sparkling new play from a celebrated Austen‑inspired author 😂 A witty send‑up of romance tropes, full of banter and surprises 🎭 Elegant costumes, quills, and candlelight set the Regency mood ❤️ A heartfelt look at love, independence, and the joy of writing itself
Presented by Oklahoma Shakespeare Join Oklahoma Shakespeare for this delightful romp through the Regency imagination, where Erin Woods’s wit and daring shine as brightly as ever.
Rival actors spark NYC’s Astor Place Riots, where art, class & identity collide in fiery tragedy! Par of our Fall Play Reading Series.
Step into Oklahoma Shakespeare’s Play Reading Series! Hear the words come alive in a staged reading, then join the cast for a lively conversation. It’s all about celebrating the craft of storytelling and sparking fun, thought‑provoking dialogue together.
Synopsis
Two actors. One role. A city divided.
Forrest, Macready, Macbeth dramatizes the infamous Astor Place Riots of 1849, when American tragedian Edwin Forrest and English star William Charles Macready clashed over Shakespeare’s Macbeth—and New York audiences turned the theater into a battlefield.
As Forrest’s populist roar collides with Macready’s aristocratic polish, the rivalry spills beyond the stage into the streets. Bowery brawlers and Broadway elites take sides, and the Opera House becomes the flashpoint for questions of art, identity, and democracy. Beneath the spectacle lies a haunting truth: when theater mirrors society, passions can ignite into riot.
Audiences are swept into a world of daggers and dialogue, mobs and monologues, where Shakespeare’s tragedy becomes America’s own.
Why You’ll Love It
🌟 A gripping retelling of one of New York’s most explosive cultural clashes 🔥 Rival Macbeths performed in starkly different styles—raw populism vs. refined elegance 🎭 A vivid blend of Shakespearean verse and 19th‑century street chants ⚔️ A powerful exploration of art, politics, and the dangerous line between performance and reality
Presented by Oklahoma Shakespeare
Join Oklahoma Shakespeare for this electrifying journey into history, where the stage and the street collide, and the timeless questions of ambition, identity, and power echo as loudly as Macbeth’s own.
Join us for an evening with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—a gothic epic of creation, immortality, and ruin. Part of our Fall Play Reading Series.
Synopsis
A spark. A shadow. A reckoning.
Frankenstein brings to life Shelley’s immortal gothic tale, where science dares to play god, immortality is pursued at peril, and ruin shadows every ambition. Victor Frankenstein’s quest to conquer death unleashes a being both wondrous and monstrous—forcing humanity to confront its darkest reflection.
As lightning strikes and conscience falters, the boundary between creation and destruction blurs. Beneath the horror lies a timeless question: what does it mean to seek eternity, and at what cost?
Audiences are swept into a world of laboratories and laments, visions and vengeance, where Shelley’s tragedy of creation becomes our own.
Why You’ll Love It
🌩️ A gothic masterpiece that probes immortality, meaning, and the peril of human pride
🧪 Science and horror collide in a tale of creation turned curse
🎭 A vivid blend of Shelley’s prose and theatrical imagination
👁️ A timeless exploration of humanity’s search for godhood and the monster within
Presented by Oklahoma Shakespeare
Join Oklahoma Shakespeare for this electrifying journey into literature’s darkest epic, where creation and ruin entwine, and the eternal questions of power, meaning, and mortality echo as loudly as Frankenstein’s own.