Being one of the smaller theater companies in Buffalo has its advantages, if you look at it the right way. For 17 years, that is exactly what the women of the Brazen-Faced Varlets have done, proudly, thoughtfully and, of course, brazenly.
Exercising the liberty that comes from having a limited budget, this season the women-forward theater company will present its first musical, a one-woman show written by a lesbian actor/playwright best known recently for playing Charlie Sheen’s mother on TV, and an ensemble piece about a modern-day convent-immersion experience set to 1980s pop tunes.
“We’ve always tried to do plays that are politically relevant or socially relevant,” explains Lara D. Haberberger, co-founder with Heather Fangsrud of the Varlets. “Our goal is not only to provide opportunities for women that are theatrical, but to create a community of artists who enjoy working together.”
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Many of those women will be part of “Titus XX” (opening Nov. 10), a punk-rock musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus,” written by Shawn Northrip. Northrip, playwright of the first show the Varlets ever presented, “Ramona and Juliet,” did some rewrites of his original “Titus” play to accommodate an all-woman cast, Haberberger said.
“It’s set up like a concert, not like a traditional musical,” she continued. “I liked the raw energy of it. I like that it was Shakespeare, and it was a musical we could handle.”
The play, one of Shakespeare’s earliest and least familiar, includes killings and vicious revenge. Shakespeare would go on to dive deeper into those themes with “Hamlet” and “Macbeth.” Northrip heads the other way, paring down the prose and playing up the punk to create a faster show that is “a lot of fun,” Haberberger said.
“We will provide earplugs, in case people want them,” she added. “Mostly, when we read it as women, we want to bring out some of the issues of a male-dominated society that you might not get in a traditional reading.”
The next production is planned for December. “Ann” is a one-woman show written by Holland Taylor, who performed the role for more than a decade. Taylor, once a regular on “Two and a Half Men,” wrote the play as a tribute to the late Ann Richards, the woman (and Democrat) who was governor of Texas from 1991-95 after serving as state treasurer through the 1980s.
Priscilla Young Anker will star as the formidable politician who was known for her humor and for being a straight shooter.
“The script is all taken from (Richards’) work, and it’s done with humor,” Haberberger said. “One of the things we’re trying to do is show our audience the need to be politically engaged. I mean, this is a female governor of Texas! She. Was. There. She just seems like a governor who cared, and sometimes it feels like that’s what we lack now – politicians who actually care about us.”
“Ann” will be presented in the Alleyway Cabaret in December, with dates to be announced.
The spring show, “The Convent,” is still looking for a venue, Haberberger said, because the size isn’t suited for the Cabaret’s intimate stage. The ensemble piece follows a group of women who attend a retreat at a convent where, as a way to “find themselves,” they experience life as it was in the Middle Ages, peppered with New Age touches and some surprises.
The dark comedy continues the Varlets’ quest to offer interesting roles for talented women who can’t always find parts because their size or shape or height isn’t “right.”
“I understand,” Haberberger said of those decisions. “When you’re a bigger (theater) company and you’re putting lots and lots of money into a show, you need to go with the ‘sure thing.’ But we know you can have women who are taller than their partners, for instance.”
“We’re trying to provide opportunities for women to get those roles. O’Connell & Company (founded by Mary Kate O’Connell) has done this before us – I always need to recognize them – and now we are doing it our way,” she said.
“Someone needs to make those opportunities happen.”
Theater preview
"Titus XX," Nov. 10-20 at Compass ART Space, 545 Elmwood Ave. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sundays through Nov. 20.
“Ann,” December dates TBA, at Alleyway Cabaret
“The Convent,” Spring 2023 and venue TBA
Tickets: $30 general, $25 students are available through varlets.org.