Shakespeare & Company presents the New England Premiere of MOTHER PLAY: a play in five evictions by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Paula Vogel, directed by Ariel Bock, opens Sunday, August 31 and runs through Sunday, October 5 in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre.
A sharp-witted, darkly comedic exploration of family, identity, and survival, MOTHER PLAY follows hardheaded matriarch Phyllis (Tamara Hickey) and her children, Martha (Zoya Martin) and Carl (Eddie Shields), across four decades and five apartments, enduring cockroach infestations, painful conflicts, and the constant push-and-pull of love and expectation. Phyllis wants her children to follow a prescribed path, but each is determined to forge their own way.
The play had its Broadway Premiere in 2024, earning four Tony nominations, two Drama Desk Awards, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.
“Paula Vogel is one of the best-known, most performed, and most influential of contemporary American playwrights,” said Bock. “Her work stands in the great American tradition of O’Neill, Williams, and Odets, transforming family drama into a universal exploration of what it means to be alive. MOTHER PLAY is a memory play inspired by Vogel’s own family—hilarious and heartbreaking, painful and funny—written with daring theatricality and compassion.”
Tickets range from $22 to $85, including student pricing and are available online at shakespeare.org, by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353, or in person at 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, Mass. $5 Card to Culture tickets for EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare participants are also available by calling the Box Office.
Photo Caption: Eddie Shields, Zoya Martin, and Tamara Hickey star in Paula Vogel’s MOTHER PLAY: a play in five evictions, making its New England Premiere at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre through October 5. Photo by Nile Scott Studios
Additional photos are available here
About Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company was founded in 1978 by Tina Packer. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Company offers performance, education, and actor-training opportunities year-round, attracting more than 40,000 patrons annually with a core of over 150 artists.
About the Playwright
Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright whose works include Indecent, How I Learned to Drive, The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Baltimore Waltz, The Oldest Profession, and A Civil War Christmas. She has served as Director of Playwriting at Brown University and as the O’Neill Chair of Playwriting at Yale School of Drama. Her awards include three Tony nominations, induction into the American Theatre Hall of Fame, two Obies, the Lily Award, the NY Drama Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim, and a Pew Charitable Trust Award. Her memoir, Travels Without Carl, will be published by Penguin Press.
About the Director
Ariel Bock is a longtime actor and director with Shakespeare & Company, where her directing credits include “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley,” “Emma,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Sense and Sensibility.” As an actor at S&Co, she has performed in Measure for Measure, The Children, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, and many more. She has also worked with Mixed Company and New York City’s Ensemble for the Romantic Century.
Cast
Tamara Hickey (Phyllis Herman)
Hickey has appeared at Shakespeare & Company in The Contention (Henry VI, Part II), Much Ado About Nothing, Time Stands Still, and Heisenberg. Regionally, she has performed in Appropriate, Cabaret, and God’s Ear (Elliot Norton Award for Best Actress). Screen credits include The Equalizer 2, Defending Jacob, Olive Kitteridge, and Mother/Android.
Zoya Martin (Martha Herman)
Martin returns to Shakespeare & Company after appearing as Louise Rabiner in Dear Jack, Dear Louise and Ophelia in Hamlet. A graduate of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, her credits include Silent Sky (Asolo Rep), Twelfth Night, and Belleville.
Eddie Shields (Carl Herman)
Shields has appeared with Bedlam (Angels in America), Speakeasy Stage (Significant Other, The Inheritance), and Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Screen credits include Moonrise Kingdom and Road to Joy. He holds an MFA from Brandeis University and a BFA from Adelphi University.
