Photo Coverage: Project Shaw Presents GREAT CATHERINE & ANNAJANSKA

Gingold Theatrical Group -- which made history as the first company ever to present every play (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches) written by George Bernard Shaw -- continued its fifth year of PROJECT SHAW with two one-act plays by Shaw, GREAT CATHERINE and ANNAJANSKA, THE WILD GRAND DUCHESS, on Monday, March 28 at The Players Club in Manhattan. David Staller produced and directed.

In GREAT CATHERINE, the lusty titular Empress, Catherine of all the Russias (Jayne Houdyshell), doesn't waste much time beating around the bush. When an emissary from London arrives in her court, she does what she must to get what she wants. In ANNAJANSKA: THE WILD GRAND DUCHESS, written immediately after the 1917 Russian revolution, a mysterious Grand Duchess (Hannah Cabell) doing her bit for both sides.

The ensemble included Hannah Cabell (COMPULSION), Rufus Collins (THE ROYAL FAMILY), Richard Easton (THE INVENTION OF LOVE), Jane Houdyshell (THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST), Charlotte Parry (THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST), A.J. Shively (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES), Marilyn Sokol, Evan Thompson, and Diane Stilwell Weinberg. The host for the evening was journalist Jesse Green (Elle Magazine).

David Staller produces and directs all of the Project Shaw readings. He is currently directing Shaw's CANDIDA for the Two River Theatre Company in Red Bank, New Jersey (www.trtc.org).

For more information, visit www.ProjectShaw.com.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy