Mr. Shakespeare

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A play which examines the pains and pleasures of living in Stuart London for the greatest playwright of them all .   This Shakespeare is Isolated by the terror of plague outside, and while he cudgels his brain for writing inspiration, wrestles with the guilt of leaving his family,  is tormented by the accusing voices from his own self - especially his father- and negotiates the paranoia of King James. But there are compensations: his fellow actors,  his successful drive for success,  and Moll...   But above all this he  searches for 

Mr Shakespeare (I prefer the title 'The  Incomplete Work'  which I will use after Edinburgh) is currently playing at the Dunedin Theatre, as part of that great artistic jamboree, the Fringe at the  Edinburgh festival.   The producer is Theatre Productions, Europe (Steven Church, also  the director).

Ciaran Davies  takes the part of William Shakespeare . Ciaran is an actor, writer, director, cameraman, stunt-man.  Just check out his web-site! https://ciarondavies.webs.com/apps/blog/

'The Incomplete work' is a piece for one actor (it makes use of recorded voices) and is showing at Edinburgh as a play one hour in length (the standard for the Edinburgh Fringe) but it toured in 2021 as a full length play (one hour and a half, with interval) also for one actor.  If  a production required,  the play could easily be converted into a multi-character piece, (say for a Shakespeare festival)

I am currently working on a screenplay for 'the Incomplete  Work' (as you can see, I'm  still thinking about the title for this play).

•   What a moving portrayal of the complex life and circumstances and the anguish of a brilliant author. .Ciaron Davies brings these to life in a brilliant and captivating solo performance.  (Wendy Donner)
•   The script, penned by Michael Barry, was a brilliant homage to the life and works of Shakespeare. It skillfully weaved together snippets of the Bard's most famous plays, while also delving into the man behind the words. Barry's writing was both witty and poignant, capturing the essence of Shakespeare's genius and the complexities of his personal life.  (Philip Daniel)

 We don't really know much at all...

One of the great mysteries is  what  happened between in the  so-called 'lost years'  1585 to 1592.  His twins, Hamnet and Judith were baptised in 1585.  Some time later, around 1586/7 ,he  left Stratford for London. We think...Some theories have him as  a schoolteacher; some as  an actor in the Midlands of England. We don't know.    We do know that by 1592 he must have established himself as a writer because that is the year when Robert Greene mocked him as an 'upstart crowe'. 

He must have been quite a tough character to leave wife and family to make a life as an actor. And of course, all these gaps allow the  playwright to provide his own answers...

• “Our myriad-minded Shakespeare' (Coleridge)
• "If we wish to know the force of human genius we  should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning we may study his commentators." (William Hazlitt)
• "Wonderful women! Have you ever thought how much we all, and women especially, owe to Shakespeare for his vindication of women in these fearless, high-spirited, resolute and intelligent heroines?" (Dame Ellen Terry)