BOUND BY TRUTH Comes to San Antonio This Month

The Classic Theatre of San Antonio is bringing Bound by Truth, the award-winning work of local female playwright Sheila Rinear, to Mission Concepción on March 26, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. What's fitting is that the play highlights an inspirational, real-life female figure from the 16th century and it's happening during Women's History Month. Audiences are sure to enjoy the experience of watching this piece of art written by a San Antonio native be performed within a historical landmark in our city.

The Classic Theatre of San Antonio is proud to partner with Las Misiones, the nonprofit charged with preserving the historic mission churches. The special reading of the play will feature pre-show music from San Antonio Philharmonic and design illustrations by Broadway professionals. The performance will be followed by a catered post-show cocktail reception by Chef Don's Catering.

Bound by Truth by Sheila Rinear tells the story of Margaret "Meg" More Roper, daughter of Sir Thomas More, a literate woman in an age of male-dominated religious and political strife.

"Margaret More Roper was the leading female intellectual of the 16th century whose biography and contributions to women's literacy and education have been largely ignored," said Sheila Rinear. "Meg Roper is the prototype for the modern professional woman. The mother of 5 children, she was not only an esteemed educator and writer but was the most significant translator, male or female, of the 16th century. Beyond all that, she was unafraid to challenge the authority of the notorious King Henry VIII. She is one of my favorite heroes and I believe it's time for her to step out of the shadow cast by her father's martyrdom and subsequent sainthood."

The play has already won multiple accolades including:

• #2 on Red List, Coverfly Red List of Top 20 History Plays , 2021
• Finalist, Screencraft Stage Play Contest, SCREENCRAFT, LA, 2020
• Semi-Finalist, Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition, Austin Film Festival, 2018 Development Grant, Dramatists Guild Foundation, 2017
• Semi-Finalist, New Play Award, Playwrights First, 2016

The play also has an impressive group of artists who will create design drawings to help make the story come to life, including Michael McDonald as the costume designer whose Broadway credits include a Tony award nomination for the Hair 2009 Revival, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Goat or Who is Sylvia, and Take Me Out; Matthew Herman as the Scenic Designer whose credits include associate designs for Escape to Margaritaville (La Jolla Playhouse), and Emojiland (off Broadway/National Tour); and Brandon Rosen as the Lighting Designer whose Broadway credits include associate designs for Thoughts of a Colored Man and Diana: The Musical. The reading will be directed by Christi Eanes.

The cast for Bound by Truth includes:

Iza J. Garza as Margaret Roper

Allan Ross as Thomas More

Vincent Hardy as Desiderius Erasmus

Terri Ross as Alice More

Kacey Roye as Dorothy Colly

Tyson Price as Will Roper

Mark Stringham as King Henry VIII

Jim Mammarella as Thomas Cromwell

Mateo Orozco Davila as Henry Fitzroy

Fernanda Rodriguez as Princess Mary

Joe De Mott as Narrator