Award Winning Tudor Drama Comes To Southwest Shakespeare

What's a Tudor monarch to do when he has to face all six of his wives in the afterlife?

After two years of touring throughout the United Kingdom and United States, Tier 5 Theatre's hit Tudor drama, LADIES IN WAITING: THE JUDGEMENT OF HENRY VIII, written by James Cougar Canfield, has found its latest home at Taliesin West, for its regional theatre premiere with Southwest Shakespeare Company.

LADIES IN WAITING finds King Henry VIII in a purgatory-like situation, where one by one he must face off with each of his wives. Through dark humour, devastating truths, sexy seductions, and powerful revelations, Henry comes face to face with what his legacy has become: one entirely defined by women.

The Southwest Shakespeare run will feature the return of original cast members, James Cougar Canfield and Hilary Kelman, reprising their roles as the infamous king, Henry VIII, and the original wife, Catherine of Aragon, respectively. The production will be directed by Mitchell Glass, also returning for this latest iteration. The rest of the cast includes Katherine Stewart (Anne Boleyn), Melissa Toomey (Jane Seymour), Lucy Atkins (Anne of Cleves), Bailey Smith (Catherine Howard), and Bonnie Beus Romney (Katherine Parr).

After a preview run in London, LADIES IN WAITING made its official premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016, where it received immense critical praise, with multiple four star reviews, a Top 10 Ranking on Broadway Baby's Theatre List, an Eddies Award nomination from London's Drayton Arms Theatre, and a sold out run.

Last year, the Tudor drama traveled stateside with sold out shows at Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles, and Capital Fringe, in Washington D.C. It continued its critical success with more four and five star reviews, as well as winning the Hollywood Fringe International Award (an award honouring the top show of the festival originating internationally).

LADIES IN WAITING will perform in the Pavilion Theater at Taliesin West. Tickets are on sale now through swshakespeare.org. Follow its journey by visiting us on Twitter (@LadiesInW8ting) or Facebook (facebook.com/LadiesinWaitingHenryVIII).