THE ROARING GIRL to Open at Spooky Action Theater with Theatre Prometheus
Co-directors Sarah Marie Wilson and Sophia Menconi adapt the 1611 Jacobean comedy at Spooky Action Theater in Washington, DC.
Theatre Prometheus announced their summer 2026 production of the Jacobean comedy The Roaring Girl. A raucous adaptation of Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton's 1611 play about real-life gender rebel Moll Cutpurse, The Roaring Girl mischievously explores counterculture across eras, gender and class rebellion, and how far we'll go to be with the ones we love.
Envisioned and co-directed by Sarah Marie Wilson and Sophia Menconi and selected through Theatre Prometheus' early-career director mentorship program, Pitch Your Passion, The Roaring Girl will be on stage at Spooky Action Theater from June 5-27, 2026.
"As we face the rise of the 'trad wife aesthetic' and the associated 'traditional family values,' Dekker and Middleton's exploration of the class, gender, and generational tensions of four-hundred years ago are only becoming more relevant," shared Wilson and Menconi. "The Roaring Girl mirrors these contemporary ideas with its sometimes philosophical, often bawdy discussions of the performance of gender. It was important to us, in adapting the play, to bring out these thorny questions while preserving the play's sense of mischievous joy. While Sebastian, Mary, and Moll struggle with very real and contemporary issues, they tackle them with boisterous hijinks and unwavering hope for the future.
"We hope audiences come away with a sense of joy in queer triumph in dark times. There's light on the horizon for the queer youth in this play-there can be hope for us, too."
Newly-appointed Literary Director, Shana Laski, shared: "The Roaring Girl laughs in the face of gender norms and stereotypes in a way that is far beyond its time. Rigid gender expression, the framework of marriage, and divisions between classes are all the butt of the joke for Moll Cutpurse, and this story's irreverence for structures of old is exactly why we found it so Promethean."
The cast bringing this Jacobean romp to D.C. this summer includes Daniel Brody as Sebastian, Jae K. Gee as Moll Cutpurse, Erik Harrison as Sir Alexander, Ayanna Fowler as Mary/Laxton, Laura Artesi as Trapdoor/Neatfoot, John Jones as Goshawk/Sir Davy Dapper, and Liv Speck as Mistress Openwork/Sir Guy, along with Rebecca Husk and Aron Spellane as swings.
The creative team joining Wilson and Menconi includes scenic design by August Henney (Helen Hayes nomination for Rorschach Theatre's So Late Into the Night), costume design by Regan McKay, lighting design by Molly Jane Brennan, fight and intimacy choreography by Julia Rabson Harris (Theatre Prometheus' Helen Hayes' nominated The Pliant Girls), sound design by Kiefer Cure, props design by Aoife Ceighton. The production manager for this production is Peri Walker, and the stage manager is Madeline Mustin. Artistic Directors Tracey Erbacher and Ileana Blusein serve as line producers, with hiring and casting by Managing Director Amanda Zeitler.
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