Summer 2023

We are delighted to announce the launch of a three-year partnership with Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre's EXPAND THE CANON, beginning with next summer's production of Hannah Cowley's 1783 play Bold Stroke for a Husband. Bold Stroke will be directed by Hedgepig Artistic Director Emily Lyon.

What is Expand the Canon? So glad you asked! Both a celebration and a call to action, Expand the Canon demands space in the classical canon for more and diverse women playwrights. It's a curated list of classic plays by women & underrepresented genders – and a call to action to produce them. By re-casting the past, we can re-shape the future. You can read more in Playbill, New York Times, or American Theatre!

What is this "Bold Stroke" play all about? If you're looking for a classic comedy like Taming of the Shrew, dive into this romp featuring five bold women with strength and agency instead! While Olivia takes on various unattractive qualities to un-suit her various suitors (despite her frustrated father’s attempts to marry her off), Laura and Victoria are wooing each other – yet competing with each other – both in an effort to best Don Carlos. Bold Stroke for a Husband has the levity and hijinks of a Shakespearean comedy with the feminist attitudes of a much more modern piece, combining the best of Shrew and Twelfth Nightin one tight, funny, uplifting narrative. (Description from Expand the Canon) 

In addition to Bold Stroke for a Husband, ISF will revisit a renowned favorite, Romeo & Juliet, to be directed by Olena Hodges, ISF Executive Artistic Director, who played Juliet at ISF in 2011.

"Two households, both alike in dignity..." Feuding families, teenage rebellion, and romance collide in tragedy, leaving generation after generation of audiences mourning, "for never was a tale of more woe than this of Julietand her Romeo."