THE LADIES  /
Photos by David Gochfeld

A rollicking take on four first ladies who exercised power.
— The New York Times

The lives of Eva Perón, Madame Mao, Elena Ceausescu, Imelda Marcos — and those of project author Anne Washburn and director Anne Kauffman — told through gossip, tape recorders, torch songs, spectacle, and grim historical analysis.

CREATIVE TEAM  /

Written by:
Anne Washburn

Directed by:
Anne Kauffman

THE LADIES received its Premiere at Dixon Place, in association with Chashama and Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in February 2004. It was directed by Anne Kauffman, with the following cast:

Anne Kauffman: Jennifer R. Morris
Anne Washburn: Jennifer Dundas
Jiang Qing (A.K.A. Madame Mao), Radio Player, Nina: Nina Hellman
Elena Ceaucescu, Wang Guangmei, Model, Opera Actress, Pregnant Poor Person, Quincy: Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Eva Peron, Red Guard, Torvald, Maria: Maria Striar
Imelda Marcos, Radio Player, Red Guard, Noranna, Alison: Alison Weller
Voice of Dovie Beams: Maria Dizzia
Voice of Ferdinand Marcos: Damian Baldet

Developed with support from New York Theatre Workshop and the Public Theater through the New Work Now! Program. The Ladies was commissioned by Dixon Place with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Thanks to those who were part of The Ladies initial development:
Colleen Werthmann, Aimee Guillot, Natalie Griffith and Maria Dizzia.

PRESS  /

Chashama
New York, NY. 2004

• The New York Times: "a rollicking take on four first ladies who exercised power"
• Broadway World: "Avant-garde from the get go"
• Time Out New York: "an alternative to the pseudo-objective docu-theater of Anna Deveare Smith and her artistic progeny"