Bring Down the House—a Diverse, All-Female Henry VI—Tests Shakespeare's Universality

by Rich Smith John Ulman
The day following National Day of Patriotic Devotion, the cast and crew of Seattle Shakespeare and upstart crow collective's joint production Bring Down the House had a decision to make. They could demonstrate along with the roughly 175,000 people marching in support of women's rights in Seattle or they could rehearse for their all-female production of William Shakespeare's Henry VI plays.
After a company discussion, director Rosa Joshi, who distilled Shakespeare's histo