RBG on Stage in Bay Street's Literature Live!

Bay Street Theater is up and running with “All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” this year’s offering in its Literature Live! play series. These annual productions on the Bay Street stage bring to life classic books or curriculum being studied by high school students, but all audiences are welcome and encouraged to attend.

“All Things Equal” opened November 3, and the one-woman show revisits the life of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died in 2020, right before the presidential election. Written by Tony Award-winner Rupert Holmes, the piece comes to Bay Street direct from a successful October run at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida. It stars Michelle Azar as Ginsburg and is directed by Laley Lippard, co-founder and co-executive producer of The Chicago Home Theater Festival.

“I didn’t want the play to become too glib about what she did with her life,” Holmes explained in a recent interview. “The whole notorious RBG thing made her a buzz word, but she had a remarkable life and did things against great odds. We forget people like that are just human beings like us.

“I wanted to get that story out there in a way you got to know her as a human being and not just an icon,” said Holmes who, though he is best known for his 1970s hit song “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” also wrote the 1985 hit Broadway musical “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” which won five Tony Awards.

“Ginsburg devoutly believed that there was a pendulum to justice, and it could only swing so far before it would swing the other way,” Holmes added. “I want to side with RBG. You have to fight for justice, be tough as nails and you just have to be persistent and assume one day people will see the light.”

“All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” runs through November 27 at Bay Street Theater. Public performances are Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $35 at baystreet.org or 631-725-9500. Additional weekday performances are provided for free, to any school group that wishes to attend. School groups should call Bay Street’s administrative office at 631-725-0818 or email education director Allen O’Reilly at allen@baystreet.org to arrange.