Into the Breeches

Reviewed by Taylor Kass
International City Theatre
Through June 25

RECOMMENDED

When the men are away, the women will have to play them — Henry V, Falstaff and Hotspur, that is, and every other man in the Henriad. It’s 1942, and Oberon Theatre’s core company of male actors are away fighting the Axis powers. But at home, Maggie Dalton (Meghan Andrews) is battling sexism in her quest to direct the Henriad (a trilogy of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I and II plus Henry V) with an all-female cast. George Brant’s Into the Breeches, directed by Brian Shnipper for International City Theatre, is an enjoyable heroine’s journey that transforms a rag-tag group of housewives into a legit Shakespearean company.

Although Into the Breeches is set in 1942 and was commissioned in 2014, it’s eerily timely to watch the theater board president Ellsworth Snow’s (Nicholas Hormann) puritanical pushback against a gender-bending performance (despite all of Shakespeare’s plays originally being performed in drag). And while the script primarily grapples with gender equality issues, it does touch on the marginalization of Black and gay Americans during World War II. Despite these external societal forces, the bumbling and easily-swayed Mr. Snow is the only real source of opposition to the all-female production. The most engaging sources of conflict are interpersonal, like when patriotic young wife June (Brooke Olivia Gatto) calls out stage manager Stuart (Lee James) for being absent from the front lines, or when director Maggie bruises the ego of seasoned diva Celeste (Leslie Stevens).

While Brant’s script occasionally leans into sentimentality, it does provide an exciting meta-theatrical opportunity for the female actors playing the female actors to sink their teeth into some of the best Shakespeare in the canon. (This reviewer is itching to see a full length version of Emilie Doering as Prince Hal and Sydney A. Mason as Hotspur.) It’s a treat to see these few, these happy few, this band of sisters blossom into bona-fide actors.

International City Theatre: Beverly O’Neill Theater, 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach; Thurs. – Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.; through June 25. www.InternationalCityTheatre.org or (562) 436-4610. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes including one 15-minute intermission.