Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas will be performing “Into the Breeches” from March 7-22 at the Irving Arts Center. with the help of three Brookhaveans.
In the time of World War II, when most of the men in the United States were off at war, women stepped into roles they were often limited in – including theater. The heartwarming comedy takes place in the 1940s during the war, in which the Shakespearean season seemed to be canceled, as most of the roles were for men. However, women decided that the show must go on as the play follows their journey to perform “Henry V” with an all-female cast.
“The story of these women coming together and putting together a Shakespeare play, and really giving the audience a chance to see what it’s like to put together a show stood out to me,” director and former Brookhaven theater professor Lisa Devine said. “The playwright has written this play with so much heart, and when I read it, the characters leapt off the page to me and I just felt like I could hug them – I felt like I knew them, and I thought that this was a story I could tell.”
The play is costumed by Brookhaven theater professor Michael Robinson and his store, Dallas Costume Shoppe. In addition to Robinson’s involvement, Brookhaven film professor Darise Error plays Winifred Snow, a socialite wife married to the man primarily in charge of the Shakespearean company’s finances. While Error has 20 years of directing experience, along with some voice acting and cameo work, she said that this is her first full-fledged show with a role of significance in a long time.
“I got into theater because I’m an actor, [and] that’s what I wanted to do – act,” Error said. “But in the academic world, a lot of times you’re more limited to what the students need… and I miss the acting. And because I’m not directing this semester, it seemed like a really good shot, so it’s a chance to walk on stage and be what I got in the business to do in the first place.”
Rehearsals for the show began on Feb. 3. While it has not been that long since rehearsals started, Error said it’ll be fun transforming into the 1940s period as a “feminine society lady.”
“I auditioned in a dress, which surprised a lot of people, [as they] haven’t seen me in a dress,” Error said. “But she certainly would wear [it]… with a little bit of a heel, and I’ll be wigged, of course [to become] a well to do society lady who has teas and all that. That’s totally not who I am, but that’s the thrill of acting.”
The message of the show is primarily to showcase how coming together as a community with dedication and passion can help persevere through adverse times. Just like how the female characters in the play came together to find joy in a difficult time – despite taking on roles reserved for men.
Tickets for the play can be bought on mainstageirving.com, with student and senior prices at $26.50 and the adult price at $33.50.
“I want to build a show that’s memorable, that will linger in their minds, and have [the audience] think about the differences that women bring to the world, [and] that our points of view and how we pull together community is an asset,” Devine said. “I think that women have something to offer in our society, and we get overlooked. And this is a play to kind of put the big spotlight on what women can do.”
