New Kapil play a ‘fantastic take’ on Elizabethan culture

As Aditi Brennan Kapil discussed her latest work, “Imogen Says Nothing,” currently receiving its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre, it’s fair to say that much of the play sprouts from mistakes worthy of farce.

The title character was mentioned but inexplicably cut from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and comes from an English town long since expunged from British maps. Furthermore, Kapil misheard a line of dialogue during a college production of “Much Ado” and it handed her the play’s title.

None of this, by the way, is to suggest that Kapil’s play came easily to her. She has developed “Imogen Says Nothing” over the past six years, to say nothing of its subconscious gestation period that began during Kapil’s college days.

In a coincidence worthy of a Dickens novel, “Imogen Says Nothing” was officially conceived right here in New Haven, where the play, directed by Laurie Woolery, runs through Feb. 11 at Yale Rep. Kapil was in town riding herd on Long Wharf Theatre’s production of “Agnes Under The Big Top” in March of 2011. She accepted a lunch invitation from Jennifer Kiger, associate artistic director and director of New Play Programs at Yale Rep.

Kapil, who knew Kiger casually, was pleasantly surprised when Kiger offered her a commission. As luck would have it, Imogen was freshly on the playwright’s radar and she swiped the commission right out of Kapil’s hands.

“You know how there are never enough women’s roles in college?” Kapil said. “We did a production of ‘Much Ado’ and, because there are never enough roles for women and

CATHERINE AVALONE — REGISTER From left, in “Imogen Says Nothing,” are Thom Sesma, Ashlie Atkinson, Daisuke Tsuji, Ricardo Dávila and Hubert Point-du Jour.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVEN PADLA Ashlie Atkinson in a dress rehearsal for “Imogen Says Nothing.”