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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 Gym at Judson, where her play Women of Will is in performances. As we converse, I notice the sign on her dressing room door reads “Ms. Packer.” I would expect nothing less from a woman who has devoted 15 years to preparing a production about the women in the works of William Shakespeare.

Tina Packer of “Women of Will” in Performance Video

“Spring blooms with wall-to-wall Will Shakespeare on stages and bookshelves.”

“Consider the challenge in just the first part of the marathon: Packer and costar Nigel Gore tackle The Comedy of Errors, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, and all three parts of Henry IV. In between, they analyze the role of women within each play, studying Shakespeare’s early treatment of the fairer sex.”

“Tina Packer has lived and breathed Shakespeare for over five decades. Her insight into his work runs the full gamut. She has played countless roles and taught the canon at colleges across the country.”

“Renowned Shakespeare expert Tina Packer discusses her favorite characters and explains why girl power is at the heart of her new Bard-centric show Women of Will.”

“A true tour de force performance, Women of Will, is the masterful summation of Shakespeare & Company Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer’s 40-plus years spent investigating all things Shakespeare; it is an engrossing exploration of the Bard’s art and psyche as seen through the eyes of his female characters, and portrayed by two of Shakespeare’s greatest modern interpreters – Ms. Packer and Nigel Gore.”

“Shakespeare began off not as a feminist at all. He was projecting on women they’re either viragos or they’re sweet little virgins on the pedestal. You know, he was a kid, he was projecting on women but he really didn’t understand women, but by the time he got to the end of his life he was saying, ‘Guys, if we don’t follow the women, if we don’t run our lives the way women run their lives, we’re going to be in real trouble.’ I think he ended up as a real feminist.”