By Jarice Hanson
For the Valley Advocate

With Women’s History Month soon upon us, it makes sense to call attention to women who have changed the course of history.

Names like Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul may not be instantly recognizable, but when Shaina Taub’s Broadway musical “Suffs” closed on Broadway one year ago after only 301 performances, plans immediately started being made for this show to go on tour, where its message of women’s struggle for equality might find a completely different audience.

Like “Hamilton” to which “Suffs” will undeniably be compared, musicals can be creative ways to tell history and introduce audiences to real people who were dedicated to making the country a better place for all.  What is also path-breaking about this show is the commitment to an almost all-woman production team as well as an all-woman cast. The story of how the show got to Broadway could be a play in itself. Producers Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, Jill Furman, and Rachel Sussman, along with visionary director Leigh Silverman led a creative team made up of mostly women to represent women of all walks of life — and all of whom owe a debt to the foremothers who tried their best to ensure legal equality for women.

The first touring company recently performed at The Bushnell in Hartford, and it became clear on opening night, Jan. 27, that a new generation of audience members was hungry for a show that focused on real women who took risks and challenged patriarchy to inch toward equality.  The energy in the theater was palpable. I talked to many audience members who had never been to see a live musical before, but they were excited to see this story, and they braved frigid temperatures for the experience.

Marya Grandy as Carrie Chapman Catt in “Suffs,” and Company.
Joan Marcus

Maya Keleher as Alice Paul in “Suffs.”
Joan Marcus

Carrie Chapman Catt, played by Marya Grandy, was of the “old guard” by trying to get men to pass voting rights to women in 1900.  Successor to Susan B. Anthony, Catt took a cautious approach. Twenty years later, along came Alice Paul, with the purpose of establishing the National Woman’s Party to demand women’s suffrage and fight for the Equal Rights Amendment. Committed to non-violence, Paul and her inner circle challenged the status quo with different methods and outcomes, many of which were inherently dramatic, such as a hunger strike and exercising their right to demonstrate at the White House gates. Perhaps because of the show’s appeal to a younger demographic, the story of the suffragists who were the “Suffs” is told primarily through the eyes of the younger suffragist, Alice Paul.

On Broadway, “Suffs” won the Outer Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Musical and Shaina Taub won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score. The story, though not completely historically accurate, is fascinating, and the 17 women who perform the 33 songs represent a much more “typical” cross section of womanhood than the usual Broadway fare. “Suffs” is destined to be a much produced musical on regional and local stages, and the touring company at The Bushnell gave the show a high-voltage energy that excited the audience. A feeling of triumph and liberation accompanied the evening’s entertainment. “Suffs” will have a long lifespan on the stage in regional and local theaters, so if you missed it on Broadway or in Hartford, watch for it to come around again.  It’s well worth the immersion into the past to understand where we are as women now, and how far we still have to go.

Tina Packer, actor, director, visionary theater icon, who was known for her longtime work with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox.
Shakespeare & Company

The Queen of the Berkshire Bard: The Great Tina Packer (1938-2026)

The regional theater world as well as theaters around the world are mourning the loss of Tina Packer, the visionary, driving force behind Shakespeare & Company, one of the premier performance and educational venues in the Berkshires. Tina passed away on Jan. 9, 2026, ironically, just months after the mortgage was paid on the Shakespeare & Company campus in Lenox.

Tina co-founded Shakespeare & Company in 1978 with actor, director, writer and teacher Dennis Krausnick, who later became her husband; voice and text teacher Kristin Linklater; Kevin Coleman, actor, who also serves as director of education; and a group of prominent theater artists. The first home of Shakespeare & Company was at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox. The company later moved to its own 30-acre campus on Kemble Street where it grew to encompass four very different types of performance spaces, indoor and outdoor, and it expanded its theatrical offerings to a host of different plays.

As artistic director until 2009, Tina coordinated the artistic, educational, and outreach activities of the company, and was its chief fundraiser and advocate. After 2009, she shifted her attention to directing and acting. Though always a stalwart presence during the peak season of the company’s work, Tina was drawn to regional and local theaters around the nation and the world.

I remember first meeting Tina when I interviewed her for a performance she was preparing for called “Mother of the Maid” about the mother of Joan of Arc. Her arresting presence, sense of humor, and full candor made that interview feel as though we had moved from interviewee/interviewer to friends.  We chatted far longer than we had planned.  I think I was more concerned about her spending too much time with me so close to opening night, but that never seemed to rattle Tina. She always seemed to control time while not missing a beat in talking about what she was most passionate about, which was always “putting on a great show” and “finding what you know to be a universal truth.”

Committed to telling the stories of Shakespeare’s women, Tina performed all of the female characters over her career. In 1994, she was awarded Guggenheim and Bunting Fellowships to fund the project and performances of “Women of Will” in Mexico, England, The Hague, China, and across the United States. Her influential book, “Women of Will” was published by Knopf in 2015. Her insights into character, gender relationships, power, and culture, all contributed to her vision of the lasting legacy of Shakespeare’s work.

In honor of Tina’s legacy, a celebration of life will take place on Sunday, May 31, at the Shakespeare & Company campus; please check the website for more information this spring.  Shakespeare & Company has established the Tina Packer Legacy Fund and in lieu of flowers, Tina’s family asks that friends show their support by donating to the fund.

Tina Packer will be remembered by countless students and audience members for her warmth, energy, and spirit. Actors will remember her as a leader and extraordinary talent. Anyone wishing to share memories, a story or reflections about Tina are invited to email that message to:  rememberingtina@shakespeare.org.