Harriet Walter & Friends: What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said…

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One of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors, Dame Harriet Walter, currently starring in Silo and renowned for her extraordinary portrayals in Succession, Killing Eve and Ted Lasso, has written SHE SPEAKS! WHAT SHAKESPEARE’S WOMEN MIGHT HAVE SAID, imagining what his female characters might have been secretly thinking and letting them speak their minds.

She will be joined by a remarkable cast of actresses*, including Juliet Stevenson, Leah Harvey, Meera Syal, MyAnna Buring, Olivia Williams, Tanya Moodie and featuring violinist Lizzie Ball. Enjoy Shakespeare’s women as they demand centre stage in this special performance, giving voice to brilliant, profound and hilarious alternative insights & female perspectives in gorgeously constructed verse, sonnets and prose.

“I worship Shakespeare…but the mirror that he held up to Nature reflected a predominantly male image of the world. I pondered the long shadow of his genius and tried to think of ways to let a little sunlight in on some of his women’s stories. I like to think he wouldn’t mind.” –– Harriet Walter

Curated & directed by Cedering Fox, WORDTheatre Founder & Artistic Director
Kirsty Peart, WORDTheatreUK Creative Partner

Produced in association with Fane Productions and The Old Vic.

*Appearances are subject to final availability

Published by Virago Press, Little Brown Book Group, SHE SPEAKS! WHAT SHAKESPEARE’S WOMEN MIGHT HAVE SAID will be available for sale!

Harriet Walter DBE, is a prolific, award-winning British actress who is well known for her roles in such television hits as Silo, Succession, Ted Lasso and Downton Abbey, to name a few as well as her many film appearances. She is the recipient of an Olivier Award, and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Tanya Moodie is a Canadian actress and producer, best known for her work on Motherland, The Clinic, and her many stage credits, which include productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.

MyAnna Buring is a Swedish-born British actress known for The Salisbury Poisonings, The Witcher, and Downton Abbey. Acclaimed for her stage work, she starred in A Very Expensive Poison (The Old Vic) and The Hunt (Almeida/NYC). On film, she earned a BIFA nomination for Kill List and appeared in The Descent, Twilight: Breaking Dawn I & II, and Hyena. Television highlights include Ripper Street and The Responder. She recently completed ITV’s Unforgotten and continues to impress audiences with her dynamic performances.

Leah Harvey is a BAFTA-nominated actor for Apple TV+’s Foundation. Their theatre work includes leading roles in Small Island at the National Theatre, Phyllida Lloyd’s Shakespeare Trilogy at the Donmar and St Anne’s Warehouse in New York, Girl and the Machine at The Young Vic and the original cast of Emelia at The Globe. On screen leading roles include Sky’s hit show Sweetpea,  A Gentleman In Moscow opposite Ewan McGregor and A24’s Tuesday opposite Julia Louise Dreyfus. They will soon be seen in Craig Roberts’ new film Scurry with Rhys Ifans.

Juliet Stevenson, CBE, is one of the UK’s finest actresses. Her RSC and NT stage work is legendary – including Olivier Award-nominated roles in Measure for Measure, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Yerma and Death and the Maiden which won her an Olivier. More recently she has performed the title role in The Doctor (Almeida, West End – Olivier nominated) – and Off Broadway – Mary Stuart, Duet for One (also Olivier nominated) and Hamlet, all of which ran at the Almeida and in the West End. She was BAFTA nominated for her role in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply and other film appearances include Emma, Bend It Like Beckham, Mona Lisa Smile, Being Julia and Infamous. She also received three nominations for TV BAFTAs for A Doll’s House, The Politician’s Wife and Accused. Her latest film Reawakening is out now.

Meera Syal, CBE is a multi-award winning actor and writer of novels and screenplays.  Her tv credits include the iconic comedies Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At Number 42. Her many stage roles include ‘Beatrice’ in Much Ado About Nothing (RSC) Shirley Valentine (West End) and ‘Queenie’ in A Tupperware Of Ashes (NT). Her film credits include Yesterday and Paddington and her debut novel Anita and Me is on the national curriculum. Upcoming projects include The Devils Hour and The Wheel of Time (Amazon). In 2023 she was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for her outstanding contribution to screen.

Olivia Williams is a celebrated British actress known for roles in The Sixth Sense, Rushmore, and The Crown, where she played Camilla Parker Bowles. On screen, she has appeared in The Father with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Anna Karenina, and The Ghost Writer, earning multiple awards. Her stage highlights include Mary Seacole (Donmar) and Mosquitos (National Theatre). Olivia stars in the upcoming HBO series Dune: Prophecy and Netflix’s Monster. A Cambridge graduate, she is acclaimed for her versatile performances across film, TV, and theatre.

Lizzie Ball is a violinist, vocalist, and concert producer who performs classical, jazz and improvised music. She has performed as a solo violinist with Hugh Jackman, Ariana Grande and Liam Gallagher. Lizzie was leader of Nigel Kennedy’s handpicked ‘Orchestra of Life’ for 8 years, and a member of the Jeff Beck Band between 2013-14 where she toured the U.S also featuring as a solo vocalist alongside Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson. Lizzie has received awards from ACE, PRS Foundation/Spotify fund and was more recently awarded The RPS Enterprise Award for her newly formed ‘Set your Stage’ Coaching.