https://theatreweekly.com/ June 7, 2026 Women of Will arrives at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, offering a fresh exploration of Shakespeare’s female characters through an unexpected meeting of minds. Written by Siofra Dromgoole and directed by Michelle Joyner, the play follows two strangers who strike up a connection in a pub. As their conversations deepen, they begin to [...]
www.broadwayworld.com By: Stephi Wild Jun. 02, 2026 WOW Productions and Insouciant, in association with Soho Theatre will present Women of Will. Two strangers in a pub bond over the evolution of the women in Shakespeare's canon. Performances will run at Summerhall, 18 – 31 Aug. Inspired by the seminal book by actress, director and founder of Shakespeare & Company Tina Packer, this new play by Siofra Dromgoole follows an aspiring drama school student Ava and an [...]
Tina Packer’s Women of Will is meant to be an educational performance piece that explores Shakespeare’s trajectory as a writer through the lens of his female characters, diving into issues of gender and power. The piece has had various productions over the years and was published as a book in 2015 (subtitled Understanding Shakespeare’s Female [...]
https://www.tdf.org/shows/21896/women-of-will/ In a funny, fierce, deep and unforgettable evening of theatre, Women of Will explores themes of love, loss, freedom, control, violence and power through Shakespeare’s heroines. Royal Shakespeare Company veteran and Founding Artistic Director of the renowned Shakespeare & Company, Tina Packer created this acclaimed work tracing the chronological evolution of Shakespeare’s female characters [...]
“Shakespeare’s Mighty Sorority” by Ben Brantley “Fashion is hardly the first thing on Tina Packer’s mind in Women of Will her impassioned exploration of Shakespeare’s heroines, which opened Sunday night at the Gym at Judson. Yet even in this month, when designers are strutting their wares on runways all over New York, there’s unlikely to be a more [...]
“Star-Crossed, Tamed or Tragic: A Tour of Shakespeare’s Heroines” “Riding those words like an expert equestrian in “Women of Will,” directed by Eric Tucker, Ms. Packer becomes the age and shape the character demands she be. You start to understand how barnstorming troupers of previous centuries could tour in Shakespeare in their twilight years without [...]
"Brilliant! Fearlessly impassioned acting that you'll remember for as long as you live." Read the full article on The Wall Street Journal
Tina Packer, lately the artistic director of Shakespeare & Company in MA, offers an evening on Shakespeare's women. Women of Will, is formatted as a dramatic lecture, but it deflects boredom with a casual tone. The informality makes the audience listeners, not viewers, which is probably the best way to engender enthusiasm for his work. Read [...]
The Boston Globe publishes their review of Women of Will today, and in it Louise Kennedy calls Tina Packer’s work “an intensely theatrical experience”: "Drawing on her lifetime of acting in and directing Shakespeare’s plays, Packer combines the performance of scenes with the discussion of themes to create a dazzling and illuminating piece of work. [...]
“Frailty, Thy Name Is Woman!” – Not So Much. An Interview With “Woman of Will” Creator and Star Tina Packer Tina Packer wants Hamlet to go f**k himself. Well, not exactly. It's said in jest, but there just might be some truth to the statement, Packer laughs, while sitting outside her dressing room at the [...]
