Writer: Lauren Gunderson
Director: Lotte Wakeham
Lauren Gunderson’s warm-hearted comedy kicks off in a tavern three years after Shakespeare’s death, his King’s Men angrily lamenting the decline of the theatrical world. When star player and sole living repository of the plays Richard Burbage dies, ageing thespians Henry Condell and John Heminges fear the Bard’s words may be lost forever.
Thus begins a remarkable project to rescue and piece together the scattered fragments of the unpublished plays to create the now-famous First Folio.The task appears insurmountable in the cold light of day but Niall Costigan’s passionate Condell coaxes and cajoles Russell Richardson’s reluctant Heminges into action.
When diligent scribe Russell Crane, played by Tomi Ogbaro reveals he has secretly copied and stashed away his favourite texts, the quest begins in earnest. The band is reformed and a battle ensues to recover the dog-eared manuscripts, including from dusty privies, and produce one of literature’s greatest collections, despite the efforts of Zach Lee’s greedy and foul-mouthed publisher William Jaggard.
Lotte Wakeham’s production, staged in the round, is touching and funny, carried along at pace by the excellent cast. Helen Pearson sparkles as Rebecca Heminges while Carrie Quinlan is a soothing presence as Elizabeth Condell. Jessica Ellis puts in a comic turn as Alice Heminges, barely hiding her infatuation with the Jaggard’s much more likeable son, Isaac, played by Callum Sim. Andrew Whitehead steals the show as the ruddy-faced and permanently drunk laureate with a heart of gold, Ben Jonson, and Tarek Slater ably switches between theatre barker, printer and Boy Hamlet.
The Book of Will was written by Gunderson in 2017 and first staged in her native United States. This European premiere tour, co-produced with the Octagon Theatre, Bolton and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, celebrates the Folio’s 400th anniversary with an accompanying exhibition in the theatre.
An easy watch, it sweeps the audience along with a band of true believers and ends with a clever and poignant reminder of what they saved.
Runs until 11 November 2023.