“Frailty, thy name is woman.” Think again, pal.

Would Shakespeare in a new form be as sweet? That is the question, and the answer is a resounding “Oh, yeah.”

For centuries, William Shakespeare’s words have delighted audiences high and low. Every few years it seems there is a revival of popular interest in Shakespeare’s work that mirrors the ongoing love many have for him.

To many, the Bard represents the heights to which the English language can reach. They see each play and sonnet as a finely crafted example of Elizabethan language. This makes it unapproachable to some and a great challenge to others.

Yet there is a school of thought that would have us see Shakespeare’s appeal in his ability to marry high and low concepts to create artful expressions of the overall human condition. This is the strength and the challenge of Shakespeare — to get past the poetry and speak the words as if they were your own.

“Shakespeare’s Women,” conceived and arranged by Libby Appel and directed by Gregg Henry, associate professor of theater and director of ISU Theatre, will appear March 23-26 at Fisher Theater.

It uses Shakespeare’s words to create an entirely new, concept-driven play. The setting is that of a modern ball. The cast are dressed in tuxedos and gowns. All of the usual suspects are in attendance: Cleopatra, Othello, Romeo, Juliet, Lady Macbeth and others.

The play examines the relationships of men and women by using the best of Shakespeare.

“Frankly, and a little cynically, it’s a greatest hits evening,” Henry said. “It’s actor-centric; it gives these people an opportunity to play scenes from these plays, it shows the wide variety of women that Shakespeare wrote … the sad, the happy, the weak, and the frail.”

Drew Hennebeck, sophomore in performing arts, plays Hamlet, Petruchio and Verone. He said “Shakespeare’s Women” give those audience members who are unfamiliar with Shakespeare a chance to see the best of the Bard in one setting.

“It’s some of the best works of Shakespeare involving women put together like they are at this party,” Hennebeck said. “For someone who is not familiar with him, it’s a good chance to do that.”

Shakespeare’s use of women has been viewed by some as less than flattering. Men often appear in the spotlight while women appear prominently only when they are victims, antagonists or paired with or used as pawns by men.

Danielle Strait, junior in performing arts, plays Juliet, Kate, the Queen and Viola. She said those already familiar with the works of Shakespeare will see them in a new light.

“‘Shakespeare’s Women’ gives Iowa State audiences a chance to look at Shakespeare’s plays and see them in a different light,” Strait said. “It gives them a good variety, and it actually shows that Shakespeare’s women do have importance in his plays and that they are sometimes overlooked. When you think of Shakespeare, you think of the big names like Hamlet. The women are not often looked at as individuals.”

Kate Johnson, junior in performing arts, plays Hermione, Charmain, Marie, Lady Macbeth, and the Duchess of York. She said the females roles get less credit than they deserve, but if one looks, they can see how Shakespeare’s women are the ones who make the men strong.

“For the women, there’s a lot of strength being shown as well as their weaknesses and frailties,” she said. “Generally, Shakespeare’s women have been very strong, but it’s not the women who have been the focus of the plays. Men get the attention, but without the women they wouldn’t have the strength that they do. The women suffer and are made to benefit the men.”

Kelly Bartlett, junior in performing arts, plays the female narrator, Isabella and Cleopatra. She agrees with Strait that “Shakespeare’s Women” shows a new generation of viewers there is more to the women in these plays than what the old boys club would have us believe.

“What’s really interesting about the play is it shows some [what might be considered] negative traits in a positive light,” she said. “We examine some of the ‘weak’ traits and see them as strong. There is a scene with Demetrius and Helena from ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ where the characters are lost in the woods and they fall in love with the wrong people. Helena is hopelessly in love with Demetrius, and he’s not having it. She says she will do anything for him and follows him desperately, but we play it so that even though it ends kind of sadly, she runs off after him and you know if she doesn’t get him, it’s his loss because she is so devoted.”

The play offers something for both the men and women in the cast.

“For the guys it shows the different facets of how women impact men,” Henry said. “I think it’s great work for the women and for the guys just to tackle that material and chew on it. Plus they all look good in their tuxes and evening gowns.”

Bartlett out pointed some challenges.

“The experience has been great,” she said. “I’ve never worked with Shakespeare so to actually battle it was great. The language was hard to figure out.”

For the actors, the process has been worth the effort. After initially struggling with the text, they credit perseverance and Gregg Henry with helping them finally get to the crux of the text.

“This play has made me respect Shakespeare so much,” Bartlett said. “A year ago, if I had tried to read ‘MacBeth,’ I wouldn’t have been able to do it. But Gregg has this amazing way of helping you look at the text so you can really piece apart what he’s trying to say.”

Henry has enjoyed letting the cast run with their own ideas.

“A lot of what they’re doing they have discovered themselves,” he said. “There is this fascinating moment when it stops being Elizabethan poetry and becomes a person saying it. It’s great to be a director and help them when they need it and then just step back and let it happen.”

Getting beyond the poetry has helped Bartlett see Shakespeare as more than just high art.

“This play has helped me look at Shakespeare in a whole new light,” she said. “When we started, it was this whole poetic thing. We were just reciting these lines, now I know what’s behind the words. I know what I’m saying and I hope the audience gets that. I loved every minute of it.”

Donnavan Tyler, senior in performing arts and psychology, plays MacBeth, Claudio and Othello. He found the challenge of using his skills to bring Shakespeare to life rewarding.

“He is one of the toughest playwrights to interpret and get into,” he said. “At the same time it’s been a great experience using my abilities to express myself so the audience could understand it and get into it.”

Tyler said the road to understanding Shakespeare was long and hard and eventually led into the light during the development of this production.

“It was during this play that I started to really understand Shakespeare,” he said. “Understanding the language is the hardest part. After I got my lines memorized, I was able to do a lot of character development and react off of other people on the stage.”

According to Tyler, the play has a lot that many audiences might not normally expect.

“People that have never seen Shakespeare have a preconceived notion of how it is,” he said. “There are two African-Americans in the play and usually people wouldn’t expect that. I think they are going to be educated and it will be interesting to see how they react to me playing traditionally white characters.”

The cast and director know that if they have done their jobs right, audiences will leave with not only a deeper understanding of Shakespeare, but of the roles of women in those plays as well.

“These are not classical icons, once you get past the rhythmic recitation, it becomes easy to understand,” Henry said. “It’s my belief that when an audience doesn’t understand Shakespeare, it’s our fault, not theirs.”