I wanted to do a Shakespearean play that I had not heard of before. Obviously, people know Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, etc. After reading the synopsis of Cymbeline I thought it was a very interesting storyline. First you have the wicked stepmother trope, stepmother trying to get rid of stepdaughter. Next you have kidnapped children who are raised by someone they assume is their father because they were with him for so long. They you have two lovers being forced apart by banishment and one wanting another dead due to false “infidelity”. While all of this happens, the titular character Cymbeline is trying to keep from going to war with another country.

I have seen other Shakespeare plays set in completely different time periods than what they were originally. Cymbeline is originally set in the fourteenth century AD. What I have done is moved it to the twentieth century, specifically the 1950s. I have also included people of color into the play, or at least costume work. I am aware that in the 1950s, and even now, POC are very oppressed. I wanted to add POC because the characters I have specifically chosen are very important to the play. Posthumus I have created to be black so there would be more of a backstory as to why Cymbeline wouldn’t want his daughter to marry someone Not just out of royalty, but out of bias and racism.