An intriguing journey for anyone who loves Shakespeare’s works or treasures the intimate artistry of solo theatre, Shakespeare’s Will provides a memorable dramatic portrait of a woman who deserves history’s listening ear. Thankfully, the play doesn’t rely on only documented facts as it would be a very short monologue indeed. Instead, Quantum Theatre brings Anne to life in a moving and musical 90-minute, one-woman show. This inventive regional premiere runs through Dec. 1 at West Homestead United Methodist Church.
As Anne, the stellar Sheila McKenna recounts Canadian playwright Vern Theissen’s imagined adventure of love lost and found. Appropriately, the ocean looms as large in Shakespeare’s Will as it does in the Bard’s canon.
McKenna’s wise and wry characterization of Anne provides a hypothetical glimpse of the Shakespeares’ relationship. The marriage was largely filled with a void: William’s 23-year-run of theatre work in London. Here, Anne is home alone again, just after his death, anticipating the contents of his last will and testament. As actors are wont to do in solo shows, she shares her most personal memories with an audience of strangers through her monologues.
On a set draped in white fabric and adorned with swirling pieces of manuscripts, letters, and documents representing her husband’s works, Anne talks of how they might have met, what her father maybe said, and how their 11-year-old son may have died. Might, maybe, and may have? The documents and recorded facts about Anne, a farmer’s daughter and market town housewife, are especially few, as the playwright’s reminds in the program. The sparse “history” leaves much space in which to tell an imagined story about Anne and her husband.
It’s certain that Anne married 18-year-old Bill (as Theissen’s Anne calls her husband) when she was 26, pregnant, and experienced with caring for her own orphaned siblings, as many young women likely did rather than marrying as a teen. Upon marriage, Anne moved from her father’s farm (and her famous cottage) into Stratford-Upon-Avon where the young Shakespeares shared quarters in the house now known as Shakespeare’s birthplace. Three children were born–daughter Susannah; then twins, Judith and Hamnet, a few years later. Shakespeare left to pursue his work in London, leaving Anne to manage on her own. The boy twin Hamnet died at age 11, cause unknown, ending the direct descendant line. The successful playwright then bought one of the finest homes in Stratford, named the home New Place, and left Anne and their two daughters again. After the Globe Theatre burnt to the ground in London, Shakespeare returned and lived with Anne until his death. And he left a will.
Bouncing off that historical outline, Theissen’s script imagines Anne as a resourceful and wise woman who had lovers before Will and again during his absences. The newly coupled Anne and Bill agree to operate independently in a more contemporary fashion. They wind up separated geographically for most of their marriage. Anne navigates a sea of troubles including the dangerous realities that an Elizabethan life foreshadow.
Sheila McKenna creates a relatable, earthy Anne. Grounded in her destiny in her bare feet as a practically abandoned wife and mother, McKenna masters Theissen’s ultra-poetic script. Considering the stamina required for a solo show, McKenna has some respite from the dialogue provided by violinist Dawn Posey and appearances by young actor Simon Nigam who does not speak but represents her memories of her son. In this world of swirling paper and surf, McKenna paddles and survives in and around a water pool center stage.
While Anne waits for her sister-in-law Joan to arrive with the fateful will, Anne remembers much, including how rounds of plague have jeopardized her parents’ family and her own household. McKenna’s description of that incurable disease is spine-chilling, recounting that her father once took her to the English coast to escape the pestilence.
McKenna is more matter-of-fact than romantic when describing how she met Bill. She’s delightful in reenacting her father’s rants about her betrothed, cursing up a storm about the son-in-law—”not a Shakespeares, the son of a papist!”
Anne takes her own family to the sea when the plague returns. Theissen’s dramatic license provides an answer for one of literary history’s questions. McKenna’s most moving moments are those capturing the solitary life Anne leads and the indescribable pain of loss, the details of giving birth, and her continual waiting for her husband to come home.
This imagined journey does not quote much of Shakespeare’s works or tell us exactly what he was doing in London. Instead, the audience is alone with Anne, and Bill’s presence in her mind.
Shakespeare’s bequest to Anne of “the second best bed with the furniture” is a topic of centuries of debate. The anticipation of that fact associated provides the fuel for the play while Anne is the engine, chugging on through a life which would last seven more years after Bill’s passing. Every playwright or novelist taking on the Shakespeares’ story can choose what that bed represented. Is it an insult? Was it a loving gesture to an aging spouse? Could it be imbued with regret of immeasurable magnitude? Theissen provides his take in the context of the couple’s greatest trade.
Melanie Dreyer, a former Pittsburgh director and Pitt academic visiting from Alberta, stages Shakespeare’s Will, mining the the most resonant moments. Her players move throughout the entire space, connecting with the audience from the moment the lights go down.
The score for this intimate story is performed by Posey who interacts with McKenna throughout. Posey has culled her arrangements from pieces by female composers who wrote from 1693 to 2014. Along with two original pieces by herself, the musical motifs are arranged to underscore and connect many compelling moments. Posey even becomes the young Anne Hathaway, listening to the elder Anne’s depiction of her mother in one sweet scene.
Once more, Quantum’s stable of designers enter a space and transform it. Stephanie Mayer-Staley’s scenic design transforms the altar and entire front of the sanctuary into a raised playing area. Documents and manuscripts seem to dangle, swirling into a giant shell-like spiral on the back wall, just as the words of a writer overtake his mind and and flow onto paper.
Joe Seamans fills the white back wall with projections suggestion details ranging from a sweet bridal nosegay to a famous print of Elizabethan London over the broad space. Lighting by C. Todd Brown superbly illuminates the set and key moments. Steve Shapiro’s soundscape includes sounds of the shore and Anne’s imagination, complementing Posey’s music. Costumes by Bonnie Siefers are practical, with the barefooted McKenna and Posey dressed in simple black gowns with touches of white trim.
Shakespeare’s Will Trailer Video.
For more background on the play and Sheila McKenna, read our interview here.
Visit Quantum online in advance for all events, tickets, and discounts as select performances are already selling out with only 100 seats in the space. Ticketed audience members should arrive at least half an hour before curtain for general seating and take advantage of free parking that’s less than a five-minute walk away.
The curious may also join more discussion about Anne Shakesepeare via Quantum on Facebook.
Pre-show events during Shakespeare’s Will include:
Social Q – Wed., Nov. 13, 6:30- 7:30pm – Happy Hour at Voodoo Brewery, Homestead. Homestead favorite, Craft beers (first round is on Quantum!) with pinball contests. At 7 pm Pittsburgh’s resident Anne Hathaway expert, Yvonne Hudson (known for her own solo show, Mrs Shakespeare, Will’s first & last love), leads a toast to the Bard’s wife before patrons move over for the 8 pm performance. The Wednesday performance, however, is sold out.
Quantum Quaff – Thurs., Nov. 14, 6:30 pm, wine tasting at the venue.
Yvonne Hudson, a Pittsburgh-based writer, publicist, actor, and singer, joined PITR as a writer and adviser in February 2016. She began performing and writing during high school in Indiana, PA. The Point Park journalism grad credits her Globe editor for first assigning her to review a play. Yvonne is grateful to Dr. Attilio Favorini for master’s studies at Pitt Theatre Arts, work at Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, and believing in her Shakespearean journey. When not working with nonprofits, this lifelong chorister sings with Calvary UM Church’s annual Messiah choir. Having played Juliet’s Nurse for Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, Yvonne is now seen in her solo shows, Mrs Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson: The Poet Lights the Lamp. Goals: See all of Shakespeare’s plays in production and memorize more Sonnets. Fave quotes: “Good deed in a naughty world,” “Attention must be paid,” and “A handbag?” Twitter @msshakespeare Facebook: PoetsCornerPittsburgh LinkedIn
Categories: Archived Reviews