Inspired by actress / Brooklyn Theater fire survivor Kate Claxton's lecture tour, Juliet's Nurse sets out to correct the record regarding "the greatest love story ever told". A meditation on aging, teenagers, and the human comedy.

ABOUT

AYUN HALLIDAY is the Chief Primatologist - and sole employee - of the long running, hand illustrated zine, The East Village Inky and author of nine books, including No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late and Creative, Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto.  

Her plays include NURSE, Fawnbook, Zamboni Godot and The Mermaid’s Legs, in addition to the hundreds of short plays she wrote and performed in as a member of the NeoFuturists in the '80s and ‘90s. 

She and her husband Greg Kotis are the co-founders of Theater of the Apes, under whose auspices Ayun hosts the book-based variety show Necromancers of the Public Domain and improvises bluegrass musicals with The Wayfaring Strangers. 

www.AyunHalliday.com

SPENCER KAYDEN originated the role of Little Sally in Urinetown the Musical (Tony, Drama Desk, Lortel nominations, Outer Critics Circle, Theatre World award winner). 

She also appeared on Broadway in Don’t Dress for Dinner (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle award winner). 

Along with the inimitable Ayun Halliday, Spencer was an ensemble member of the Neo-Futurists, writing and performing 30 plays in 60 minutes in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

AUDIENCE REVIEW!

Nurse! does you the favor of close-reading Shakespeare while taking you on a hilarious, masterful journey with the most immediate, atavistic stagecraft. You're reminded, or persuaded, that theater always was and always will be! - Jeff Dorchen, writer

*

Ayun Halliday’s “Nurse” is a thoughtful and hilarious play that takes all the “But what abouts…?” of one of Shakespeare's greatest love stories and logically extends those questions in a delightfully intertextual and contemporary way. As Juliet Capulet’s most trusted confidant, Nurse is a bawdy but nuanced guardian commenting on the foils of bad decision-making, in a behind-the-scenes documentary monologue that left me marveling (and laughing). Ayun’s wit is showcased in both writing and performance, expertly executed in poetic Elizabethan but contemporary verbiage. If you know a lot about Shakespeare then you'll love it. And if you don't know a lot about Shakespeare you'll also love it. I didn’t want it to end.

- Liz Mason, bookstore manager

*

Ayun Halliday’s “Nurse” is all kinds of brilliant; a true tour de force.

Ayun has a singular approach to language, both the  modern English of Shakespeare, and contemporary English. She delightfully and creatively weaves them together to provide a nuanced, intellectual, hilarious and moving tale that finally gives The Nurse her due! Her story has finally been told! Add in just the right amount of staging, physical comedy, the celebration and sorrow of the human experience, and you have a remarkable, unusual, and inspiring evening of theater. This is a performance I will never forget. I only wish I could have seen it more than once; so much to hear, see and think about  You will be kicking yourself if you miss it and Ayun! Go see “Nurse!” - Sandy Spatz, actor and organizer

*

In ‘NURSE!,” Juliet’s long-suffering nanny finally gets her say. Halliday’s kaleidoscopic one-woman show — delivered deftly at breakneck speed — is no academic exercise in literary criticism: It is a deeply-felt resurrection of this minor Shakespearean character, an aging caregiver living vicariously through the wealthy teen in her charge. I loved the production so much in New York, I jumped at the chance to see it again in Chicago.”

- David Isaacson, Theater Oobleck