Intriguing ‘Judith’ offers a new twist on Shakespeare in Urbanite world premiere

In the world premiere of Katie Bender’s one-person play “Judith” at Sarasota’s Urbanite Theatre, actress Livy Scanlon demonstrates the kind of skill and attention to detail that makes you want to follow her down whatever road she takes.

Scanlon is a captivating performer, alternately shy and boisterous, depending on which of the dozen or so characters she is playing.

“Judith” spins an intriguing twist on who actually wrote William Shakespeare’s plays, while also exploring a woman’s limited role and opportunity in 16th century England. The wise, poetic and ambitious Judith gets an opportunity to live life in London pretending to be her brother and experiencing the doors that the gender opens. When she begins to fall for another woman, her journey leads her to an understanding of gender identity and sexual attraction and the myriad possibilities.

That’s a lot to pack into 90 minutes, but, aside from a slightly awkward introductory sequence involving audience participation that doesn’t efficiently get us into the story or character, it all comes together in an engaging way under Brendon Fox’s fluid and clear-headed direction.

Scanlon conceived the play and turned it over to Bender, who tells the story in a style that naturally mixes a contemporary sensibility with the heightened language of the past. It is inspired, in part, by Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own,” in which she created the fictional Judith Shakespeare as the actual author of William’s plays. (William and his wife, Anne Hathaway, did have a daughter named Judith.)

Scanlon first appears as herself in the present day while setting up a story of how Judith comes to London intending to masquerade as William to defend him at a tribunal accusing him of heresy for being a Catholic. William has left home with a Jesuit to work as a tutor and there’s no time to reach him before his trial date. Judith adores her brother, who taught her to read and write, and wants to do what she can to protect him.

While in London, she discovers the advantages of being a man and begins to find her voice as a writer, getting some encouragement from a pompous Christopher Marlowe, the top playwright of the time. To support herself, Judith sells her father’s gloves before the name Shakespeare begins to catch on among theatergoers and patrons.

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Scanlon makes you feel Judith’s sense of wide-eyed wonder at all she is experiencing, and her conflicted feelings as she begins to fall for a Dutch botanist named Agnes. Is Judith feeling that way because she is spending so much time dressed as a man, or is there something more?

Fox keeps Scanlon moving with purpose around the intimate space at Urbanite, which features a set by Jeffrey Weber of mostly wood flooring that extends up the walls to create the sense of a barn or attic space. Under Michael Pasquini’s lighting, those walls also come to represent the city skyline of a still-growing London.

There are moments when the story feels a little repetitive, but Scanlon keeps you engaged and wanting to see her succeed as both William and Judith herself.

“Judith” is produced at Urbanite in partnership with the Hanover Theatre Repertory in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Scanlon is artistic director. The production is scheduled to be presented there later this year.

‘Judith’

By Katie Bender. Directed by Brendon Fox. Reviewed Jan. 5. Through Feb. 18 at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota. Tickets are $42, $28 for 40 and younger and $5 for students. 941-321-1397; urbanitehteatre.com

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Review: Sarasota’s Urbanite Theatre opens world premiere of ‘Judith’