Kat Cartusciello - music (right) Me, Jessie Field - book & lyrics (left)

About the Play

HardTack is a new musical about historical pirates Mary Read, Anne Bonny, and Jack Rackham. After the daring capture of The William, pirate life is anything but smooth sailing for Mark and Andy aboard Cap’n Jack’s ship. But that’s because Mark was born Mary, Andy’s really Anne, and they’re both kind of in love - which is complicated enough without storms, mutiny, and intrigue afoot! An exploration of gender, sexuality, and polyamory anchored in historical background, HardTack investigates the fluidity of love and identity. Because if pirates can’t be wholly, authentically themselves, is there any hope for the rest of us? ​

Development

• 2023: Hard Tack was selected for a Catwalk residency, and developed at the Catslair in the Hudson Valley.