All Eyes on Me

Mrs. Hawking is returning to Arisia this January!



I am delighted to announce that Team Hawking is undertaking preparations to begin putting together our next round of production for Arisia 2018! We will be continuing our tradition of performing the two most recent installments, the part we debuted the previous year as a lead-in to a brand-new story, in order to make hook audiences into the flow of the series. So we are proud to present Mrs. Hawking 3: Base Instruments along with Mrs. Hawking 4: Gilded Cages, in its very first public peformance!

Soon we'll announcing the cast, featuring an array of both familiar faces returning to their roles as well as new stars bringing their talent to the table. And we'll make sure to keep you up to date on scheduling, development, and process as it unfolds. Until then, I hope to leave you all in anticipation of the next direction the Hawking story is about to explore!

And make sure to join us at Arisia 2018! this January the weekend of the 12th-15th at the Westin Boston Waterfront!

Since it's almost halfway through the summer, I thought I'd give a report while I actually have a moment.

I've been at my new job with Evil Overlord Games for almost a month now, and I think it's going well! I am definitely enjoying it, and I'm working very hard to do well. I've produced an enormous amount of writing, though I'm still getting used to the situation of doing it for a set time for an entire workday. Creativity on a regular schedule takes some adapting! But I'm enjoying the challenge, and I am very determined to deliver good work. This past week I was working as fast as I could in an effort to meet a deadline, so it will likely call for a lot of editing, but getting it down on the page is always the biggest challenge for me.

I've also been working on drafting Mrs. Hawking part 4, tentatively titled Gilded Cages. (I'm not crazy about that title, but I'm not sure what else to call it.) What I've got so far is very rough, but I've made a good start-- as I've mentioned, I've got to just get some garbage on the page in order to have some material to work with and improve. It's been a bit harder and weirder, given that I've got so much other writing to do lately, but having my day job provide way more writing responsibilities is actually a pretty good problem to have.

I'm also in tech week for Murders and Scandals, the PMRP double feature of Murders in the Rue Morgue and A Scandal in Bohemia. I must say, it has been quite some time before I've had a tech week that was this low-intensity, given I've been doing the piece-heavy Mrs. Hawking shows. We open this coming weekend at Responsible Grace in Somerville, so check out our schedule of performances to see which show you can make!

New post on Mrshawking.com!

"Watch City Steampunk Festival '17 performances accomplished!"

This past weekend, we successfully completed our performances of Vivat Regina and Base Instruments at the Watch City Steampunk Festival 2017!



I am so proud of Team Hawking’s work to bring these shows to life for this event. We played to two full houses that were so packed we were down to standing room only. I can't tell you how lovely and flattering it was to see people willing to stand in the back for the entirety of the shows just to get the chance to see them. And these were very good performances; the cast knocked both pieces out of the park, with high energy and extreme precision, bringing the excitement and fascination to the onlookers.



Read the rest of the entry on Mrshawking.com!

This past weekend I got a chance to see the production of Mrs. Packard by Emily Mann with the Bridge Repertory Theatre. I wanted to go because Eric Cheung was in it and I enjoy watching him act, but it was also a play that was relevant to my interests-- it took place in the 1850's and was about a woman who'd been unfairly committed to a mental institution because of her outspoken views that challenged those of her husband. Obviously I'm very interested in the feminist issues of that time period, so I was excited to see what it was about and how they would do it.

Overall I enjoyed the production very much. It took place in this gorgeous open-room theater at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, with elaborate crenellated architecture and a beautiful balcony ringing around the top of it. The set and costumes were lovely, in low-key grays and blues, and the space was shaped by large curtains that they pushed in and out to make frames. It was clearly a very professional production, with high acting quality, direction, and production value all around, though not all of the actors were exactly to my taste. The woman playing Mrs. Packard, while clearly talented, didn't appeal to me. She was very broad and without a lot of emotional levels-- she was kind of at eleven for the entire performance with little variation. I also noticed that Mr. Packard was played by the guy who read for Lord Brockton at the very first ever reading of Mrs. Hawking part one that happened at my grad school and was organized by my teachers. As for the script, overall I enjoyed the story, though I would say it was a bit heavy handed with its ideas, full of people talking alternately how absurd and how important it was for women to be able to speak their minds, depending on which side of the argument they represented.

It also spurred a lot of thoughts about how I wanted to incorporate mental health abuses as an issue in the Mrs. Hawking plays. The idea that a woman can be committed for behaving what the men in her life believe is "strange" or "inappropriate" is definitely a good source of threat for those stories. Honestly it's probably something Mrs. Hawking has specifically been concerned about that causes her to so carefully hide her activities. I actually already have an idea for utilizing it, though not until parts five and six. Those are a way off, but in watching Mrs. Packard it got me thinking about how I want to execute on those concepts. I am not going in the same direction as Mrs. Packard takes, but I hope it make it meaningful and really invoke the horror that a woman could be committed against her will, not because she's mad, but because she doesn't obey or conform.

We are proud to announce the video recording is now available for our performance of Base Instruments at Arisia 2017!

Base Instruments by Phoebe Roberts

Base Instruments from sydweinstein on Vimeo.

We are so happy to be able to present part 3 of the Mrs. Hawking series recorded for you to enjoy whenever you like. Thanks so much to Syd Weinstein and crew, who filmed this at Arisia 2017 and edited it together for us.

Please be sure to visit our Shows page for the video recordings of all three of the Mrs. Hawking so far, and see how all the hard work of all the great artists in our cast and crew come together to tell these amazing stories.

Want to catch our shows at Arisia 2016, but the cost of membership is a little too high for you? Well, here’s your chance to win two full weekend memberships for FREE in Mrs. Hawking’s Arisia membership raffle!



For the next two weeks, we are raffling off not one but TWO passes to the Arisia 2017 convention! This will give you complete access to all hours and events of the con in the Westin Waterfront Boston hotel January 13th through 16th.

To enter:

- Share the show information page or our 2017 poster on social media— Facebook, Twitter, Gogle+, Instagram
- Tag us in the post! You can use @mrshawkingweb for Twitter and Instagram, or tag our Facebook page, or use the hashtag #mrshawkingatarisia
- Each share across the platforms counts as one entry
- Share across as many platforms as you like for additional entries

Entries will close on Wednesday, December 21st at 12AM. A winner will be drawn at random and announced at 12PM on the 21st. The selected person will provide us with their contact information so that we can transfer the Arisia memberships into whatever names they choose. We shall be pleased to have you as our guests at our performances!

Happy sharing!

Vivat Regina and Base Instruments by Phoebe Roberts will be performed January 13th-15th at the Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel as part of Arisia 2017.

I directed a ten-minute play for the Chameleon's Dish Shorts Festival this weekend! Come see us at the Democracy Center this Friday and Saturday night!



Losing & Finding. The intense loss of someone precious, from the struggle of finding one's place in the world, or the every-day frantic rush of misplacing your keys. The wash of relief and comfort in finding, from the rediscovery of a forgotten childhood toy, to the reunion with a loved one you thought was gone forever. This fall, the Chameleon's Dish Theatre travels these emotional hills and valleys through a series of new ten-minute plays.

Running the gamut from situational comedy to surrealistic horror, Chameleon's Dish is excited to present to you:

Peggy's Properties by MJ Halberstadt directed by Phoebe Roberts

Choice by Aimee Caya directed by Lenny Somervell

Hop To It by Erin Beausoleil directed by Lenny Somervell

I Just Love That Kieth Urban by Shari Frost directed by Kyle Gregory

The House by Jenna Schlags directed by Lucas Commons-Miller

Produced by Phoebe Roberts, Lenny Somervell, and Jaryn Wilcox

Running two nights only:
8pm Friday, September 23rd
8pm Saturday, September 24th
At the Democracy Center at 45 Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA

Doors open at 7:45. Suggested admission is $7 but we welcome all comers. Donations also gratefully accepted.

We now have casts set down for our upcoming performances of Mrs. Hawking and Vivat Regina at the Watch City Steampunk Festival of 2016!



This will be our second time performing both of our first two shows in sequence, after a successful turnout this past January at Arisia 2016. We are very blessed to have much of our last cast returning to their roles, but we are also excited to welcome some newcomers to round out our shows.

In part I, Mrs. Hawking

Mrs. Victoria Hawking – Frances Kimpel
Miss Mary Stone – Circe Rowan
Mr. Nathaniel Hawking – Jeremiah O’Sullivan
Mrs. Celeste Fairmont – Amanda Hurley
Lord Cedric Brockton – Francis Hauert
Sir Walter Grainger – Jordan Greeley
Mr. John Colchester – Andrew Prentice
Miss Grace Monroe – Jennifer Giorno
Ensemble – Radha Shukla, Joye Thaller

And for part II, Vivat Regina

Mrs. Victoria Hawking – Frances Kimpel
Miss Mary Stone – Circe Rowan
Mr. Nathaniel Hawking – Jeremiah O’Sullivan
Mrs. Johanna Braun - Joye Thaller
Mrs. Clara Hawking - Sara Smith
Constable Arthur Swann - Eric Cheung
Frau Kirsten Gerhard - Kitty Drexler
Ensemble - Sara Dion, Travis Ellis, Radha Shukla

We are so excited to work with this group, both those actors who have proven themselves with excellent performances as their characters in the past, and those who came out to join our ensemble for the first time.

Mrs. Hawking and Vivat Regina will be performed on May 7th as part of the Watch City Steampunk Festival 2016 in Waltham, MA.

"Our shows on the Arisia 2016 schedule!"

The schedule of events is available for Arisia 2016, and our shows are on it!



Read the rest of the entry on Mrshawking.com!

Mrs. Hawking by Phoebe Roberts will be performed January 15th at 8PM and January 16th at 4PM and Vivat Regina by Phoebe Roberts January 17th at 1PM at the Westin Waterfront Hotel as part of Arisia 2016.

We have been scheduled for times and locations for our upcoming performances at Arisia 2016!



Mrs. Hawking
by Phoebe Roberts
8PM on Friday, January 15th
Grand Ballroom B

4PM on Saturday, January 16th
Grand Ballroom A

Vivat Regina
by Phoebe Roberts
1PM on Sunday, January 17th
Grand Ballroom B

At the Westin Waterfront Boston
425 Summer St, Boston, MA

Go here to sign up to attend Arisia 2016! Be sure to join us for the continuing story of the lady’s champion of London!

Mrs. Hawking by Phoebe Roberts will be performed January 15th at 8PM and January 16th at 4PM and Vivat Regina by Phoebe Roberts January 17th at 1PM at the Westin Waterfront Hotel as part of Arisia 2016.