Photography by Paul Kennedy

Scenic Design by Travis Deck

Lighting Design by Sarah Resch

Sound Design by Ning Guo

Stage Manager - Whitney Carter

"I have been a subscriber to the UCI School of the Arts for 30 years and Mrs. Packard is the best production I have seen on a UCI Stage.” – D. Kruger, Patron

“I took a friend to see Mrs. Packard and we were really impressed with the production in every respect. It’s a tough play to watch, but it is so honest, sincere, and so horrifying. It is visceral and intellectual. “ Daphne Lei, Head of Doctoral Studies UCI Drama

Director's Note

Women have been instrumental in building this country, but we rarely tell their stories. The Declaration of Independence, says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” All men are created equal. From the beginning of this country, women were not considered equals to men, and consequently, women have not enjoyed equal rights to men.

You may object. It’s 2017. Women have the same rights as men now. Yes, things are better for women in this country. Almost one hundred years ago, women fought for the right to vote. Since then many women continue to fight for equality. But the problem is we all still fighting. We have a voice but we are often not heard. Could this be because we do not tell the stories of the women from our past? Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” By not demanding to know the history of the women who sculpted the United States of America, are we going to be stuck in this cycle of fighting the same fights over and over again and never getting the results we desire? Are we doomed to continue to try and make all the mistakes ourselves?

Elizabeth Packard was a woman who refused to be silenced and insisted on being heard. In a time when she had no legal rights, she demanded liberty. The world almost silenced her voice but she prevailed. There is so much we can learn about how to fight the battles we face today by looking at Elizabeth’s story. If we start telling the stories of American women, like Elizabeth, now, can we break the cycle of repeating history? By peering into the window of our past, perhaps we can see a reflection of our present that will lead us to true equality in our future.