WHERE’S MAMA?
Reclaiming the voices of Shakespeare’s missing mothers
by Cathleen Riddley
July 19 & 20

In Where’s Mama?, the silence of Shakespeare’s missing mothers becomes a powerful call to reimagine who gets to shape a legacy. This evocative solo piece centers Black women—absent from the Bard’s pages yet essential to the lives they birthed—by conjuring the unseen mothers of Helena, Miranda, Ophelia, and the daughters of King Lear. What might have happened if they had voices? If they had power? If they had presence? 

Cathleen Riddley is a Black woman, a deeply honest and loyal friend, and a member of the neurospicy clan. She’s an activist, a “good trouble” maker, a certified ASL interpreter, and earned an MA in Sociology from UPenn. As an actor, she is a multiple award-winner in the San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond). She is an Artistic Associate at Marin Shakespeare, and a company member with Shotgun Players and PlayGround. None of us are free until all of us are free.