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World Premiere Wisconsin premiere of I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME at Third Avenue PlayWorks.
29 March 2023

Illyria Productions’ Sunday Reading of Margaret Postponed: For Now, You’ll Need to Settle for Rewatching Game of Thrones

Mike Fischer, for World Premiere Wisconsin
Illyria Productions’ Sunday Reading of Margaret Postponed: For Now, You’ll Need to Settle for Rewatching Game of Thrones Image Left: Margaret of Anjou and Right: Cersei Lannister

Which Shakespeare character inspired Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones?

The answer is Margaret of Anjou, who also inspired Marcella Kearns’ Margaret, an adaptation of the four Shakespeare plays in which Margaret appears.

As announced in Monday’s blog post and the World Premiere Wisconsin calendar, Margaret was to have been presented by Madison’s newly formed Illyria Productions in a reading this coming Sunday.

But while the play will indeed go on, unforeseen circumstances will require a postponement until late April or early May; there will be no reading this Sunday.

Left: Margaret of Anjou. Right: Cersei Lannister

No, a vengeful Cirsei hasn’t killed or kidnapped any of Illyria’s actors for stealing her thunder. And while arch-enemy Richard of Gloucester (think Stannis Baratheon) wonders “why should [Margaret] live to fill the world with words,” he hasn’t killed her off to silence her voice.

No, faithful readers: Shakespeare’s Margaret will live forever, just as Kearns’ Margaret also lives on as it channels the Bard’s immortal words.

Meanwhile, as you await Margaret’s deferred but inevitable entrance later this spring on Illyria’s stage, there are still four other Madison WPW productions – and nine statewide – opening in April to ensure you get your WPW theater fix.

While updating your theater calendar and anticipating world preems from WPW throughout April, we’ll be back Friday to end March by revisiting the inspiring road WPW has traveled thus far, through its first twelve – yes, twelve – productions.

See you then, and then see you at the theater!

Meet Mike

Mike Fischer wrote theater and book reviews for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for fifteen years, serving as chief theater critic from 2009-18. A member of the Advisory Company of Artists for Forward Theater Company in Madison, he also co-hosts Theater Forward, a bimonthly podcast. You can reach him directly at mjfischer1985@gmail.com.

Mike’s work as WPW’s Festival Reporter was made possible through the sponsorship of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF). Learn more: https://upaf.org/