QUILL! The Hand of Shakespeare was a Musical about the life story of William Shakespeare which will now be delivered in Original Pronunciation (OP); which premiered in the UK – since when; I have taken the Book back to what it was before all the music was added to a Play with a touch of appropriate Elizabethan music ripe for Development!
Premiere Review
The Waterman's Theatre on the Banks of the River Thames
Quill! (The Hand of William Shakespeare); is a Play with Music which succeeds in recreating the main conflicts of the life of William Shakespeare and of his restless time.
It gives a very lively and fascinating perspective on the genius of the English theatre.
Historical figures of Elizabethan England like Drake; the Queen herself; Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe are evoked with powerful accuracy and the reality of this epoch – the plague; the Spanish Armada is suggested with great talent.
All the scenes are very skilfully told and in a whole; it works perfectly. This evocation will allow the audience to know better of a universal playwright who was also a man of flesh and blood; a courtier and an English patriot.
The language is poetic and flourishing; finding the rhythm of the language of Shakespeare… which is an undeniable success.
I recommend Quill (The Hand of William Shakespeare); for the writing skills of Den Stevenson and the remarkable quality of his book.
It is very English in its references and style; which is a compliment.
© The Open University. With thanks to David Crystal & Ben Crystal