Shakespeare's Sister
- Full Length Play, Drama, 16th Century / Elizabethan
- 7M, 5F, 2M or F
- ISBN: 9780573111907
"What would have happened had Shakespeare had a wonderfully gifted sister, called Judith, let us say...?" --Virginia Woolf
More information
Description
- Full Length Play
- Drama
- 90 minutes
- Time Period: 16th Century / Elizabethan
- Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
- Set Requirements: Bare Stage/Simple Set
- Performance Group:
- Large Stage, Community Theatre, Professional Theatre, Shoestring Budget, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student
Judith Shakespeare has one ambition: to be a playwright. When her debt-written father forces her into an engagement, she runs away with the help of a dashing actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother in London. But when Judith arrives in the plague-stricken capital, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another, and her play refused.
Judith and the players confront poverty in the midst of economic depression, in a society where women's freedoms are curtailed, under a government confronting religious extremism in a climate of fear. Judith must choose between succumbing to social pressures, and following her dream, no matter what the cost.
Judith and the players confront poverty in the midst of economic depression, in a society where women's freedoms are curtailed, under a government confronting religious extremism in a climate of fear. Judith must choose between succumbing to social pressures, and following her dream, no matter what the cost.
Premiere Production:
Shakespeare's Sister was first performed as a staged reading as part of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust's "Pitch Your Play" scheme, supported by the Noël Coward Foundation and the Vernon Charitable Trust. It was revived as part of the Shakespeare400 celebrations at King's College London.
Characters
- Casting: 7M, 5F, 2M or F
- Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast, Flexible casting
- Casting Notes: 7M, 5F with doubling
SUSANNAH SHAKESPEARE - 9, Sussannah is precocious and affectionate. (Can be doubled with Dorothy.)
HAMNET SHAKESPEARE - 6, Hamnet is sweet and naive. (Can be doubled with Lucy.)
AUGUSTINE PHILLIPS ("Phil") - mid 20's. Phil is laddish, calculating and self-interested.
EDWARD ALLEYN ("Ned") - 26, Ned is a charismatic and successful actor.
WILLIAM UNDERHILL - early 40's, William is steady, successful and well off. Warwickshire burr.
JOHN SHAKESPEARE - 50s, John is husband to Mary and father to Judith and Will; he is a handsome, popular, confident man gone to seed.
MARY SHAKESPEARE - 50s, Mary is wife to John and mother to Judith and Will; she is an intelligent and affectionate woman, but poverty and loss of stability have worn her down.
RICHARD BURBAGE ("Dick") - early 20's, Richard is talented and engaging, but with a teenage rebelliousness. Cockney accent.
WILL SHAKESPEARE - 26, Will is ambitious and brilliant, but has not yet achieved the success or recognition he dreams of.
PHILLIP HENSLOWE ("Henslowe") - early 40's, Henslowe is a theatre manager, brothel owner, and impresario and a prosperous and canny man. Cockney accent.
JOAN HENSLOWE - early 20's, Joan is Henslowe's daughter; she is reserved and sharp, but passionate and protective. Cockney accent.
LUCY MORGAN - late teens, Lucy is affectionate, vain, sweet and seems very young. Cockney accent.
DOROTHY CLAYTON - early 30's, Dorothy is a cross-dressing woman with charisma and physical power. Cockney accent.
SERGEANT - A self-important petty thug (can be doubled with John). Cockney accent.
SOLDIER 1 - Taciturn and violent (can be doubled with Egerton). Cockney accent.
SOLDIER 2 - A complacent bully (can be doubled with Henslowe).
THOMAS EGERTON ("Egerton") - 40s's. Chivalrous, powerful, secret, a gentleman.
JAILOR - Dutiful and compassionate (can be doubled with Ned). Cockney accent.
Available Material
| Name | Price |
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Shakespeare's Sister Script
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Judith Shakespeare has one ambition: to be a playwright. When her debt-written father forces her into an engagement, she runs away with the help of a dashing actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother in London. But when Judith arrives in the plague-stricken capital, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another, and her play refused. |
$24.95 |
