Ona, Salome, and Mariche’s story is serving as inspiration for playwrights in New York City. A press release announced that Orion Pictures and Audible are teaming up to present a one night only production of “Women Talking” at off-Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre. “Women Talking: An Evening of Wild Female Imagination” will take place January 9. The performance will be recorded and available to stream later this month on Audible.
Now in theaters, “Women Talking” is set in a remote Mennonite colony and tells the story of a group of women struggling to reconcile their faith in the aftermath of a series of sexual assaults perpetrated by their community’s men. Sarah Polley wrote and directed the awards contender, which is based on Miriam Toews’ novel of the same name.
The live event will bring together Polley with “cast members Jessie Buckley, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, August Winter, Liv McNeil, and Kate Hallett, to perform three new short plays from emerging playwrights Sandra Delgado, ruth tang, and Brittany Allen,” per the release. “The event performances are inspired by the film and its themes, especially the choice the main characters of ‘Women Talking’ need to make as a community: Do nothing. Stay and fight. Leave.” Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi Schreck, best known for “What the Constitution Means to Me,” is set to participate in a conversation with Polley and the evening’s playwrights. “Zoe Chao (‘Long Weekend,’ ‘Search Party’) will perform, and two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada (‘Hadestown,’ ‘Miss Saigon’) will round out the evening’s cast with a performance of Billie Eilish’s ‘my future.'”
Kimberly Senior is directing the production.
“There is something very communal about our film ‘Women Talking,'” Polley said in a statement. “It asks audiences many questions and strives for discussion. As a director, it was wonderful to get to work with the cast through an elongated rehearsal process, and primarily in one location which made us all feel a bit like working on the stage. It is exciting to be able to celebrate this film with a one night only stage production and to be able to give voice to Sandra Delgado, Brittany Allen, and ruth tang to create pieces based on the themes of the film is thrilling. More than anything, these pieces look toward a hopeful and essential future.”