Mission Statement
Founded in 2021, iambe theatre ensemble’s mission is to provide high quality theatre that focuses on honest, provocative, compassionate explorations of the human condition, with an emphasis on the underrepresented, particularly women of all ages. Our intention is to tell stories from the point of view of a population whose voice is rarely heard on stage, giving those who are often marginalized validation, inclusion and empowerment.
Director’s Note
No Beard Shakespeare. What began as a pandemic experiment—a scrappy, one-night-only Zoom rebellion against isolation and despair—has grown into something bigger, stronger, and more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.
Back then, I was “non essential” and at home adapting Shakespeare scripts and emailing them out to a band of wildly talented women I admired. We’d log on with no rehearsal, drink in hand, and read the damn play—playing all the roles, male and female. At first, it was chaotic catharsis: Shakespeare as group therapy, costuming from our closets, and bold, unfiltered choices. But then something shifted. We started to play. To listen. To take risks. To take the text seriously while never taking ourselves too seriously. We laughed until our stomachs hurt. We made each other cry. We built a space where women could surprise each other, uplift each other, and discover—again and again—that we are capable of great anythings. And then--most importantly—we fell in love with each other, in scene and in life.
Those readings lit a spark. What you see onstage tonight is that same spark, only now it’s a flame. We are in the same room, breathing the same air, inviting you in to witness what happens when women share Shakespeare, joy, and courage together.
And why Love’s Labour’s Lost? Because it terrified us. Friends warned us away—“Pick something better known, something safer!” But this play is perfect for an all-female debut. In Love’s Labour’s Lost, the men are the lovesick fools—grandiose, overemotional, tied in knots of their own making—while the women remain steady, sharp, and true to themselves and to each other. And within the hilarity of its wordplay and hijinks, there’s a bittersweet heart: a reminder that love is not simple. In fact, in this play, love itself is the villain. Each character wrestles with it, resists it, crumbles before it, or grows because of it.
So here we are, years later, staging a play that began as laughter through tears on a glitchy Zoom screen. We offer it to you as an act of joy, of rebellion against the constant state of the world, and of Love. May it remind you, as it reminded us, that even in dark times, a tiny light can grow into something worth gathering around.
Lastly, my most heartfelt gratitude to Doreen Dawson and iambe theatre ensemble for taking this chance on a dream we all believed in from the beginning.-
- Lisa Dawn
Artistic Director’s Note
Difficult times can sometimes bring out the best in us. The many No Beard Shakespeare virtual readings, conceived by Lisa Dawn, who adapted Shakespeare’s plays and cast all the roles with women, emerged from a desperate desire to connect and to create during a time of forced isolation due to the Covid pandemic. We bonded through creativity, laughter and love of Shakespeare’s words. And maybe a few beverages. iambe is so proud to be collaborating with Lisa Dawn to bring the goal of producing one of her adaptations to fruition. Our all-female production of Love’s Labour’s Lost speaks so clearly to our mission of representing women on stage, not only as women playing men’s roles, but also through strong female characters, all exploring the timeless complexities of love, learning, lust, language, and what it means to be human.
- Doreen Dawson
