THE STORY AT A GLANCE…
ACT 1
PROLOGUE in which the players enter the stage
London England 1619. Sounds of paper and clapping. A play about pages and performers.
SCENE 1
Boy Hamlet performs a popular and unrecognizable Hamlet for Burbage, John, Henry, and crowd of others. Shakespeare is not what we remember. It’s an ugly mess. Are we in some alternate reality where things are awful?
From groundlings to Tap House
SCENE 2
Our heroes bitch about the terrible performances of Shakespeare’s work and offer explanation why it has degraded so much since his death. What we learn: Piracy is the problem with Shakespeare—there is no definitive version in print of his work. The King’s Men, The golden members of Shakespeare’s company, were the last performers of real Shakespeare and they are getting old. They hate the new, bad stuff, but they are winding down in their careers and lives.
Boy Hamlet is celebrated as the new voice of Shakespeare and Burbage attacks him (and the idiots who laud him) in the only way he can: He performs a monologue that is the essence of everything good about Shakespeare’s work, shaming Boy Hamlet and establishing himself as the living legacy of true Shakespearean brilliance. We want to believe that Burbage is the hero of our story at this point.
TRANSITION in which Crier sells us on a play and time shifts at Tap House to the next morning.
SCENE 3
Burbage promptly dies the next day leaving everyone in shock. Not our leading man after all.
Tap House blends into a funeral service
SCENE 4
Our heroes and their families mourn Burbage. John’s fear and need to remain in the background won’t let him do what he was meant to do— speak for Burbage and lead his people through grief. We really need to see something is wrong here with John, a weakness that is out of place and noticed by the people who love him. We want him to be the hero of this story and leader of this group, and he won’t step up. Rebecca and Alice must try to convince him. Henry feels out of place and surprised that this has been thrust upon him. Everyone, including the audience should feel John belongs at the center of this eulogy and play.
Funeral blends to Tap House
SCENE 5
The group gets drunk together and reminisces about Burbage. We see the relationships and status within the group. The love and devotion between family and friends. In a final toast the core group come to a horrifying realization: Shakespeare’s legacy has died with Burbage—his life’s work is like a series of scattered coals from a fire that is slowly going cold.
Tap House Blends into Ed’s Office
SCENE 6
The group goes to Theater Manager Ed to have him gather all of Shakespeare’s work in their possession so they can save his legacy. Ed tells them that most of it is gone. Henry pushes to collect what is left at any cost and John pushes back because it will be a herculean task to find and collect all the missing work. John reluctantly agrees to investigate further.
TRANSITION in which the Crier sells us a play and Ed’s Office goes back to Tap House.
SCENE 7
Our heroes gather after investigating and we are supposed to know that Shakespeare’s work now exists only in scraps and notes. John wants this endeavor to be impossible so he won’t have to try. Everyone else is looking to him for a way forward. All looks bleak and then Crane (the Fan Boy) saves the day with his personal (bootleg) library. John resists and tries to reason with everyone but the bit of hope Crane offers and Rebecca’s quiet insistence is too much for him to resist. John’s not happy but he agrees to proceed with caution.
TRANSITION in which Rebecca sells us some fruit and Tap House goes to Heminges and Condell home.
Ben enters and we find that word has gotten out there is plans for a publication. He has come to show them that Jaggard has stolen rights to Shakespeare and begun to print an inferior collection like the work we saw from Boy Hamlet—jeopardizing both the folio and the integrity of Shakespeare’s legacy. The team springs into action to stop the Jaggard folio.
SCENE 8 (Dual Scene with Husbands and Wives)
We see the marriages up close. Henry’s exuberance at their success stifling Jaggard’s book and moving forward with their own project is tempered by business-minded Elizabeth’s practical advice of restraint. By contrast, John is wrung out at the thought of continuing on this publishing quest and is gently encouraged by an insistent Rebecca and Alice. “Is a legacy worth a life? “ “ You’re damned right it is!” This is where John commits to the quest even though he remains terrified.
Heminges and Condell got back to Tap House
SCENE 9
The team is having trouble finding a printer for their folio—there has been a surprisingly cool response from the majority of printing houses in London. Things look bleak. A mysterious stranger shows up offering to solve all their problems and it turns out to be Jaggard—foiled in his attempt to steal rights from them he now wishes to blackmail them into co-publishing with them. The team naturally recoils and Jaggard’s son, Issac, after distancing himself from his vile father, manages to present a true and compelling argument to our heroes. Henry pushes back but Alice and John and swayed. It’s all in or nothing. What will they do?
Tap House Goes to Globe stage/London Street/Room at Print Shop
SCENE 10 (Triple Scene in which Alice runs through the streets with dire news, two actors speak of ghosts, and a partnership of printers and actors is born)
ACT 2
SCENE 1
John sits by Rebecca and she tries to get him to let her rest, to move on and work on the book. The scene gradually opens up to reveal not a bedroom, but the Globe Theatre, and even further to reveal that John is alone in the middle of the night. Rebecca is gone. Henry comes to pull John back from the brink, to get him to rejoin the land of the living. Together they comfort a distraught and wandering Alice.
TRANSITION in which a Fruit Seller tries to sell us fruit and we go from The Globe Theatre back to Tap House
SCENE 2
The Fellowship of the Book begins to set down rules and organize their thoughts and processes. John and Alice come out of mourning and through them we are introduced to the plan for the making of the folio. Crane represents content. Issac is execution. Elizabeth has been filing and organizing. Henry interprets for John and brings him up to speed. We need to see a good team forming and a direct response to the bleakness of their odds in Act 1, Scene 7. They have the makings of a book. There is hope. They are a team.
TRANSITION from Tap House to Jaggard’s
Montage that shows time passing and pages coming together to form a book. Movement, interaction, light spectacle that transforms the space into Jaggard’s Print Shop.
SCENE 3
John and Henry arrive to see the beginnings of their beautiful folio only to get word that the team is out of money and the presses are halted. Jaggard is all hateful practicality and Issac tries to reassure. John and Henry both make make decisions about how to get the money and interest to reinvigorate the project.
from Jaggard’s to Emilia Bassano/Ben Johnson rooms
SCENE 4 ( A dual scene in which John tricks Ben into writing a forward for the folio, thereby shining the spotlight on the book again, and Henry visits Emilia Bassano and asks for money.
TRANSITION in which the dual scene dissolves from Bassano/Johnson rooms into a bustling Jaggard print shop.
SCENE 5
Jaggard’s employees put the finishing touches on the book and a hoopla ensues because of Jaggard’s bad business practices. Troilus & Cressida is out and Timon of Athens is in. Issac breaks with his father in a meaningful way even as the old man tries to reach out to him.
SCENE 6
Alice reads the rather clunky preface written by her father and Henry while Ben shows up drunk and weepy to reveal that he is Shakespeare’s kindred spirit and biggest fan. We want to see that Ben is able to completely get Shakespeare in a way that only a writer can. Alice sees Ben in a different light here…as a kindred spirit to her as well. Issac arrives to say the book is completed and that his father died in the night, his final act being to secure the safety and success of the folio.
TRANSITION in order to prepare the Print Shop to seamlessly vanish for final scene. A montage..
A- The bulk of the excess Print Shop decor is removed and examined by Marcus, Issac, and all. John, Henry and Crane all check in. This separates and…
B- Henry shows Elizabeth and Alice the press mechanism and has them work the press. Issac and Alice peal off and have a romantic moment which is interrupted by Marcus. He hands something off to Issac who departs to find John. Marcus moons over Alice who rejoins Henry and Elizabeth.
C- Paper is boxed up as Ben enters with his preface. He hands it to Henry and begins weeping. Alice comforts him. As this happens, the small items are boxed up and the Print Shop is ready to be struck. Marcus presents a book to Issac who presents it to Henry who presents it to John. Sound and movement ends.
Immediately a gentlemen enters and asks for two of the books. We are meant to see that the efforts will reap profits.
TRANSITION in which the Crier sells us two plays and the stage moves from Print Shop to Anne’s home.
SCENE 8
Our heroes present the legacy to Shakespeare’s family and we are meant to see that the books mends (in a small but significant way) the estrangement between the family. We also see that the book’s legacy expands into the future and touches the world. A fairly large spectacle that includes some sort of aural and visual display. Finally, as the tide of the spectacle recedes, we see that in completing this task John is strong, whole, and at peace.
