BY THE SAME AUTHOR
NOVELS:
REGIMENT OF WOMEN FIRST THE BLADE LEGEND
PLAY:
A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN


WILL SHAKESPEARE
AN INVENTION IN FOUR ACTS

BY

CLEMENCE DANE

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.

Shakespeare.


THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY
As they appear.

Anne Hathaway.
Will Shakespeare.
Mrs. Hathaway.
Henslowe.
A Child.
Players.
Queen Elizabeth.
Mary Fitton.
Kit Marlowe.
Stage Hands.
A Boy.
A Landlord.
A Man.
Another Man.
A Girl.
A Street Hawker.
A Page.
Soldiers, Attendants, etc.

[ACT I.] —A Cottage in Stratford.

[ACT II.] —Ten Years Later—
Scene 1. A Room in the Palace. [Scene 2]. Three Months Later— the First Night of “Romeo and Juliet.”

[ACT III.]
Scene 1. A Month Later—Shakespeare’s Lodging. [Scene 2]. The Same Night—A Room at an Inn.

[ACT IV.] —The Next Day—A State Room in the Palace.

The Play was first acted at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, on November 17th, 1921, by the Reandean Company, with the following cast:—

WILL SHAKESPEAREMr. Philip Merivale
ANNE  Miss Moyna Macgill
Mrs. HATHAWAYMiss Mary Rorke
HENSLOWEMr. Arthur Whitby
QUEEN ELIZABETHMiss Haidee Wright
MARY FITTONMiss Mary Clare
KIT MARLOWEMr. Claude Rains

A CHILD ACTOR

Master Eric Spear
A SECRETARYMr. Arthur Bawtree
A STAGE HANDMr. Gilbert Ritchie
A BOYMaster Spear
A LANDLORDMr. Ivor Barnard
A LADY-IN-WAITINGMiss Joan Maclean

Shadows in Act I.
OpheliaMiss Lennie PrideShylockMr. Gilbert Ritchie
DesdemonaMiss Gladys JesselClownMr. Ivor Barnard
OthelloMr. Herbert YoungHamletMr. Neil Curtis
Queen MargaretMiss Flora RobsonCaesarMr. Arthur Bawtree
Prince ArthurMr. Eric CrosbieCleopatraMiss Mai Ashley
RosalindMiss Phyllis FabianKing LearMr. Fred Morgan

The Three Fates

 { Miss Nora Robinson
 { Miss Gladys Gray
 { Miss Beatrice Smith

Strolling Players, Beefeaters, Stage Hands,
Drinkers, Court Attendants, etc.


The Production by BASIL DEAN.
The Music by THOMAS WOOD.
Designs for the Scenery and Dresses by GEORGE HARRIS.