Meisle, Parlato, Vennema Head Cast of Mrs. Packard

Kathryn Meisle, Dennis Parlato, and John C. Vennema will head the cast of the world premiere production of Mrs. Packard, written and directed by Emily Mann. The show will play the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, May 4-June 10, followed by an engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., June 16-24.

Also featured in the production will be Jeff Brooks, Julie Boyd, Robin Chadwick, Georgine Hall, and Fiana Tobin. The ensemble includes Karen Christie-Ward, Beth Dzuricky, Mitchell Michaliszyn, Quinn Warren, and Ray Wiederhold.

The play focuses on Elizabeth Packard, who in 1861 was committed by her husband, the Reverend Theophilus Packard, who strongly disagreed with his wife’s liberal thinking. The grounds for her commitment rested solely on her husband’s declaration of her insanity and not on a public hearing. Mann is the artistic director of the McCarter and the author of such plays as Execution of Justice and Having Our Say.

Meisle, who will play Mrs. Packard, received a Tony Award nomination for Tartuffe; her other Broadway credits include A Touch of the Poet, The Constant Wife, and Racing Demon. Parlato, who will play Dr. McFarland, has starred on Broadway in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Graduate, and The Sound of Music. Vennema, who will play Reverend Packard, has appeared on Broadway in The Elephant Man, Racing Demon, and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan.