Women Beware Women

By Thomas Middleton

A dark comedy by one of William Shakespeare's finest peers.

The young and beautiful Bianca thought she had it all when she married Leantio. Then Lady Livia, a wealthy widow, introduced her to the Duke. Bianca chooses the Duke. Livia catches Leantio on the rebound. And despite the warnings of the Lord Cardinal, everyone descends into a violent cycle of lust, jealousy, and revenge.

Produced by Madison Shakespeare Company at Bartell Theater's Drury Stage, 113 E. Mifflin St. , Madison

Performances: October 31 - November 8, 2025

Performance Times:
October 31, 7:30 PM
November 1, 7:30 PM
November 2, 7:30 PM
November 6, 7:30 PM
November 7, 7:30 PM
November 8, 5:00 PM

Ticket Prices: $25 ($20 tickets available for students, seniors, groups)

Call 608-661-9696 for reservations or more information.

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Auditions

Auditions will be held on the following days:

8/11/2025
8/12/2025
8/13/2025

Sign up to audition August 11, 12, and 13 for Madison Shakespeare Company's October 31 - November 8 2025 production of dark comedy Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton. Many candidates will be asked to present a monologue. All candidates may be asked to participate in scene readings.

Sign up at madisonshakespeare.org/auditions . You will be contacted via email with your appointment time.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old as of September 1, 2025. Rehearsals will begin on or about September 15, 2025.

Auditions are at the Bartell Theatre's Drury Stage, 113 E. Mifflin St in Madison.

Performances on the Bartell Theatre Drury Stage.

The production is set in Florence, Italy in the early 1960s.

All roles are available.

Characters and their stage presentations include:

Leantio: (M 30+) A salesman of modest means who is out of his league at every step: marrying the beautiful Bianca, losing her, becoming a kept man, and trying to play tough.
Bianca: (F 18+) A young woman who plays the social climbing game at odd angles: at first charmed by Leantio, then dropping him for the joys of being the Duke's woman, and learning the hard way that experience matters.
Livia: (F 40+) A wealthy widow who loves desperate men almost as much as she loves herself.
The Duke: (M 30+): Florence's political leader who takes what he wants, and what he wants is Bianca.
The Lord Cardinal: (M 30+) The Duke's brother and a highly prescient moral scold.
Isabella: (F 18+) A young woman struggling for agency.
Ward: (M 18+): A young man of means and few other redeeming qualities.
Mother: (F 45+) Leantio's mother and ineffectual co-conspirator.

Other characters include Fabritio (Isabella's father and Livia's brother), Hippolito (Livia and Fabritio's sibling and eventual lover of Isabella), Guardiano (the Ward's uncle), and Sordido (the Ward's servant).

Please familiarize yourself with the characters and plot of Women Beware Women before your appointment.

Please do not put much stock in the many WBW monologues you may find random performers attempting on YouTube. (Most people do not understand that this play is a dark comedy.)