New Releases by Erin Shields

"Frailty, thy name is man." Lady Capulet wants to look younger, while Goneril longs to play Lear. Viola is weary of her "woman's weeds," and Desdemona needs an intimacy coach. As a director tells Lady Macbeth to sexualize her unsexing, Ophelia stages her death to escape Denmark--all while a chorus of actresses get candid about what's happening behind the scenes. Daringly irreverent and innovative, Erin Shields doesn't hold back in this fierce feminist examination of Shakespeare's canon, exposing how his representation of women plays out in rehearsal halls, dressing rooms, and social dynamics behind the scenes. Neither a love letter nor a breakup text, Thy Woman's Weeds is a collective scream giving voice to the unwritten verses of Shakespeare's iconic characters and the women who play them.

After nearly a decade of the Trojan War, the women of Greece are growing restless. Led by the indomitable Penelope and the fierce Clytemnestra, a band of Grecian women defy the odds and bravely set sail for the shores of Troy, determined to end the conflict themselves. The journey is fraught with danger--bloodthirsty warriors, mythical beasts, and the capricious will of the gods. But these women are no mere bystanders in the tales of men. Get ready to embark on the greatest adventure that Homer and Virgil never told. A radical retelling of the ancient Greco-Roman epics, Ransacking Troy is a bold and brilliant reimagining of the most famous war story of all time, where women take centre stage as the rightful heroes. In her signature revisionist style, award-winning playwright Erin Shields brings a refreshing feminist twist to this thrilling odyssey, confronting the habitual violence and disregard for women's lives that persist during times of war. A mythical tale for modern times, Ransacking Troy envisions what happens when women band together to build a better world.

Set seven years before King Lear, Queen Goneril centres the struggles of Lear's daughters as they negotiate patriarchal systems built to keep them relegated to the sidelines. In Goneril, we find a natural-born leader. In Regan, a boundary pusher. And in Cordelia, a reluctant peacekeeper. As the three work to dismantle their individual constraints, a storm of inner reckoning begins to brew that reflects their deepest yearnings and mirrors our contemporary world. Whip smart and wide awake, Queen Goneril is another deliciously disruptive adaptation from Erin Shields. In her signature revisionist style, Shields investigates some of our most urgent feminist issues by reimagining the roles of women in classic texts--shifting them from subjects, objects, or witnesses to central figures of both their own lives and the story's narrative. Queen Goneril lays bare the challenges of maintaining authenticity while achieving authority--how we retain a strong sense of self while twisting around systems meant to make us play small. A compelling story about complicated characters struggling--the way we all struggle--to find their place in this world.

Corny Coronavirus has been traveling the world. He shows up on the doorstep of a child with a suitcase and the ability to spread germs everywhere. This playful story, written by a licensed marriage and family therapist/certified art therapist, a certified Child Life specialist and the head of the Literally Healing Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, follows as the child Corny visits goes from unsure to empowered. Readers learn what they can do to stay safe, and how they can deal with the challenges of a global pandemic. The vibrantly animated story reinforces good habits, validates feelings, and normalize the experience kids are having. The end of the book includes tips and guidelines for parents, guardians and caregivers as well.

This is the Spanish translation of Careless Corny: A Cautionary Tale. Corny Coronavirus has been traveling the world. He shows up on the doorstep of a child with a suitcase and the ability to spread germs everywhere. This playful story, written by a licensed marriage and family therapist/certified art therapist, a certified Child Life specialist and the head of the Literally Healing Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, follows as the child Corny visits goes from unsure to empowered. Readers learn what they can do to stay safe, and how they can deal with the challenges of a global pandemic. The vibrantly animated story reinforces good habits, validates feelings, and normalize the experience kids are having. The end of the book includes tips and guidelines for parents, guardians and caregivers as well.

"An eviscerating satire of gender roles in popular culture, Beautiful Man imagines a world in which women are the subjects and men the objects. As three women dissect the latest Hollywood blockbuster, narrative after narrative of strong female characters fold into each other, fusing into a brutally recognizable story. In Unit B-1717, a woman is trying to clean out her storage locker and say goodbye to the past, but an overwhelming feeling of dread forces her to confront the way she has historically subjugated herself to the needs of others. In And then there was you, a mother addresses her child as they both visit milestones that offered them each independence, and in the process explores how the profound connection between mother and child evolves."--

In these two plays for young audiences, award-winning playwright Erin Shields presents the challenges of communication and friendship.

"The biggest mistake any of us could make would be to underestimate Satan." The seventeenth century and present day are seamlessly intertwined as Satan vents to an audience about her frustration at being cast out of Heaven and her thoughts on oppression. When she finds out that God has created delicate new creatures called "humans," she crafts a plan for revenge and betrayal on the Almighty. Erin Shields turns Heaven and Hell upside down in this witty, modern, feminist retelling of John Milton's epic poem about the first battle between good and evil. Shields's wickedly smart and funny script questions the reasons of the universe, the slow process of evolution and the freedom of knowledge. The debate over right and wrong has never been so satisfying.

A lovely book of love poems. Perfect gift for valentines day.

In a sweaty hotel room, a lonely businessman and a young woman meet for sex. Somewhere between reality and fantasy, the sex becomes talk and the talk becomes dangerous. Nothing is off limits in this battle of morality, economics and desire. This witty, dark and sexually charged new play by Governor General's Literary Award-winner Erin Shields shines a light on the complexities of sex tourism and our preconceptions about them.

If We Were Birds is a shocking, uncompromising examination of the horrors of war, giving voice to a woman long ago forced into silence, and placing a spotlight on millions of female victims who have been silenced through violence. A deeply affecting and thought-provoking re-imagining of Ovid's masterpiece "Tereus, Procne, and Philomela," Erin Shields's award-winning play is an unflinching commentary on contemporary war and its aftermath delivered through the lens of Greek tragedy.