The Beard of Avon

Poor Will ‘Shakspere’ hates his life in Stratford-on-Avon, not to mention his bossy wife. But this farmer with a gift for rhyming couplets doesn’t know what to do instead. Not until a troupe of traveling players comes through town and inspires him to move to London to become an actor, that is. What follows is the beautifully imagined and hilarious answer to a nagging question: Was this loutish, unlettered boy responsible for the greatest works of the English language; or was he merely a beard, or front man, for such luminaries as the Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon, or even Queen Elizabeth herself? In the spirit of “Shakespeare in Love” and “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead”, Amy Freed dares to tackle the perennial who-wrote-Shakespeare’s-plays debate and succeeds magnificently.

Cast & Crew

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION OF THE BEARD OF AVON

by Amy Freed
Directed by Tony Estrella

Set Design by William P. Wieters
Costume Design by David T. Howard
Lighting Design by Matt Terry
Music/Sound Design by Charles Cofone
Fight Choreography & Technical Direction by Normand Beauregard
Stage Manager, Stef Work; Assistant Stage Manager, Tray Gearing; Props Master, Marissa Hughes; Dramaturge, Jennifer Madden

CAST
Steve Kidd, William Shakspeare
Sam Babbitt, Old Colin, Richard Burbage, Lord Walsingham
Casey Seymour Kim, Anne Hathaway
Karen Carpenter, Geoffrey Dunderbread, Lady Lettice
Chris Byrnes, Henry Condel, Walter Fitch, Sir Francis Bacon
Jim O’Brien, John Heminge, Lord Burleigh
Richard Donelly,* Edward De Vere
David T. Howard, Minstrel, Lucy
Ben Johnson, Henry Wriothesley, Lord Derby, Player
Wendy Overly,* Queen Elizabeth

*The actor appears through courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.