You’d never expect it from the hallway, but for many weeks an otherwise unassuming lecture hall has had a secret identity. Alongside more conventional lectures and classes, a group of students, faculty, staff, and alumni have been rehearsing most nights of the week, and now the cast and crew of Lord Denney’s Players (LDP) excitedly await the opening night of Fair Em, The Millers Daughter of Manchester, a late-sixteenth-century play with secret identities all its own. The production has been months in the making, and everyone involved is in high anticipation—even the characters. Director Cat McMahan (MFA ’25) sums up the allure: “The plot is engaging, with lots of disguises and mischief to keep the audience (but mainly the other characters) guessing what might happen next.”.  

With so much mischief, Fair Em fits nicely among Lord Denney’s Players’ productions. Throughout eleven years of performances under the guidance of Professor Sarah Neville, the company’s creative director, LDP has specialized in productions from the medieval and early modern periods that diverge from the expected: variant versions, lesser-known rarities, and plays that are rarely produced. For McMahan, this is all of a piece:  “It’s hard to separate the show from LDP itself—the cool thing about LDP is how different and odd each annual show can be, so I like to think I’d be excited about any show LDP does. That being said, it’s easy to love Fair Em—it's an early modern version of a RomCom. The characters are so funny, even just on the page, so I think the actors are having a lot of fun trying different things and making interesting choices.”  

The emphasis on actor enjoyment is also a hallmark of the company’s mission to “demonstrate the value and vitality of student-driven academic theatre,” and Fair Em allows for innumerable fun and lighthearted moments among the cast and crew. McMahan notes, “the cast and I have also uncovered some really funny jokes and bits—some that are initially clear in the text and some that come about through experimentation in rehearsal.” McMahan herself is no stranger to the LDP process, having been a part of the company for more than two years: “I first got involved with Lord Denney’s Players in 2023, as stage manager for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The following year, I acted as Assistant Director for The Faithful Shepherdess. Both of these productions were directed by LDP’s fearless Creative Director, Dr. Sarah Neville—and I credit her with both my initial interest in LDP and my continued love for the work that it’s doing at OSU.”  

In her time with Lord Denney’s Players, McMahan has developed as an artist, and she attributes her growth in large part to the company’s welcoming community spirit. “LDP is theatre at its best,” she says, “a group of people gathered for the sheer love of the game, driven by enthusiasm, itching to learn more about whatever play is being put on that year. Because the cast and crew are from such varied backgrounds—some are coming from theatre, some from English, some from the sciences, or staff/faculty—there’s always a great mix of theatre veterans and folks who are completely new to performance.” As the cast have come together through the rehearsal process, they’ve also found their experience reflected in the play’s underlying concerns. McMahan explains, “I think the theme of constancy is a contender for Fair Em’s central theme—and as a theme in our production, specifically, because the cast is really interested in bringing out the Feminist aspects of the play through their portrayal of the characters.” 

The rehearsal process has been both exciting and challenging for McMahan: “I’m honored that Dr. Neville gave me this chance to direct Fair Em and have worked hard to live up to the role.” Yet while McMahan is excited to realize her vision for Fair Em, she’s also quick to share credit. “No matter what production you’re watching, know that it wouldn’t exist without an enormously collaborative process. The team has been incredible—every person involved, from stage management to designer to cast member, comes into the rehearsal room with a tremendous amount of excitement for the process. I can’t stress enough how wonderful that is for a theatre production, which is no small commitment for time and energy,” she emphasizes. 

McMahan notes that the early stages of a production are “often my very favorite,” and she structured the rehearsal process to emphasize the joint process of discovery, giving plenty of time for actors to fully understand the work. “We did a lot of tablework this time around, talking through lines and monologues and figuring out together what the characters are really saying. With ‘heightened language,’ it’s not always immediately clear what’s being (literally) said, and those first few weeks of rehearsal give us the opportunity to talk the language through.” It’s a vital process, because the actors themselves are ultimately the key to the audience’s understanding; their performance “clues the audience in on what’s being said.” In thinking about this understanding, McMahan particularly credits the work of dramaturg Lila Wright, whose contributions have been “essential.” 

As opening night approaches, McMahan looks forward to audience members joining in on the fun and experiencing Fair Em’s humor and wit: “It’s such a charming, genuinely funny show and the enthusiasm from the cast is so infectious that I’m sure audiences will be able to feel it from their seats.” She’s well aware that many audience members may be uncertain about seeing an early modern play—, “I think a lot of people think that early modern, or Renaissance, or any historical play isn’t for them” —but she also trusts her cast and crew to bring Elizabethan drama to life. “As the rehearsal process continues … the special moments that might show the heart of a character or present an important turn in the plot are unearthed,” she says. “These plays (especially Fair Em, though I may be biased) can be raunchy and silly and heartfelt and all the things that make us come together for the love of a good show.” 

Lord Denney’s Players’ production of Fair Em, The Miller's Daughter of Manchester, will play November 6–8 at MadLab Theatre downtown. Tickets are $5 for students, $12 for the general public, and are on-sale at MadLab’s website.  

Want a more scholarly look at Fair Em? Lord Denney's Players, the Department of English, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Humanities Institute are jointly presenting a mini-symposium centered on the play, 2:30–4 p.m. on Friday, November 7, in 150 Thompson Library.