Last spring, I decided to switch gears, discarding the historical novel I was then writing and move to a much beloved period of time and place – the Elizabethan era in London. Of course, for me that meant William Shakespeare and his fellows at The Theatre.
And before you rush to correct me and say, “you must mean the Globe Theatre,” I have my reasons for writing about the very early days of Shakespeare’s writing career – starting in 1591 and ending in 1596. Shakespeare’s fellows of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men hadn’t yet dismantled The Theatre building as the result of rising lease costs, sliding the timber across the frozen Thames to construct the Globe. That would only happen in 1599.
As some of my readers know, this is a period very familiar to me. One of my early attempts at novel writing was a young adult novel called Out of Suits with Fortune. Young and naïve, I made the wrong assumption that when that wonderful film, Shakespeare in Love, appeared on screen, that they’d robbed me of my story. Which meant I’d never be able to sell my YA. Which was definitely not true, considering how publishing loves trends.
But in fact, I’m glad the book languished – I needed more practice in writing. And I was able to use my extensive research many years later in a verse novel, In the Shadow of the Globe, which was published in 2013 by a small literary press.
So I already have a great deal of knowledge in the period, and as such, I dove headlong into this new novel. Of course I’m continuing to research as I go, but I’m absolutely loving being back here, in a place and time where so much background is already at my fingertips.
And as the summer began, an aura about me must have attracted all things Shakespeare. On July 3rd, I decided to attend the NJ Shakespeare Theatre’s outdoor stage, where they were performing one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, As You Like it. (In fact, the title of that unpublished YA novel is borrowed directly from that play.) Accompanying me was a friend from my critique class, Stina Axelrod, who shares my love for the Elizabethans as well as Jane Austen (seriously, we’re sisters under the skin) – as well as a young woman who is working with The Writers Circle, Bela Khana. It was a honor introducing Bela to her first live Shakespeare play. We even got an intermission with fireworks from a local golf course!
TWC’s Summer Creative Writing Intensives rolled around. Usually, the intensity of the Intensives swallow up any writing I’m doing, putting any current projects on hiatus. But my momentum with the new novel was such that I kept writing in small cracks of time. And when we needed a mystery for our teens to solve, I proposed a theft from the Folger Shakespeare Library, which was recently renovated, putting all 82 First Folios on display. As we brainstormed how to make this mystery come alive, we decided to become Shakespeare characters who all had an issue with how we were written in the plays. I took the role of Juliet’s nurse, mourning the death of her nursling, Bela was Hamlet’s Ophelia, mourning her own death, and Judith Lindbergh, my business partner and TWC’s founder/director, really got into the role of Lady Macbeth and her blood-spotted hands. Our teen teams were given backstories and evidence, got the opportunity to question us, and decided who must have committed the theft. (Not Nurse, I’m gratified to say.)
And on a weekend during the Intensive, I returned to the NJ Shakespeare Theatre to see The Book of Will, an amazing play which told how so many of Shakespeare’s plays were rescued from oblivion and published in that critical First Folio by his fellow actors, John Heminges and William Condell. I went with my friend and fellow instructor at TWC, Mally Becker, and sat through the fabulous performance with a huge grin on my face. The playwright, Lauren Gunderson, was spot on about the history, except for one error. Remember above how I said that the original performance space was called The Theatre? Probably because she thought the audience might think that a mistake, Gunderson called it the Globe. Oops.
And then, finally, my husband and I wanted to take a quick trip at summer’s end. Steve is as much a Shakespeare devotee as I am, so we rode the train to DC and visited the Folger Library. It was a wonderful experience seeing all those First Folios in one spot – and to peruse the rest of the exhibits. My only regret is that I didn’t apply to get into the reading room. Next time!
And throughout this Summer of Shakespeare, I’ve kept writing. The book just pours forth and of course every bit of Shakespeare experience I’ve had has kept me closely in tune with my muse. So if I you’ll allow me a small bit of indulgent borrowing from the sonnets to close, while “summer’s lease hath all too short a date,” I hope to keep up both momentum and enthusiasm “when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang / Upon those boughs which shake against the cold.” For right now, loving the era, my cast of characters, and the writing, “I scorn to change my state with kings.” (Sonnets 18, 73, 29)
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