Shylock's Daughter And Other Small Chips From Great Gems Of Shakespeare
Jules Tasca
Shakespeare's Sister
by Emma Whipday
Highlights
90 mins 16th Century/Elizabethan Ensemble Cast Bare Stage/Simple Set Period Costumes
Synopsis
Judith Shakespeare has one ambition: to be a playwright.
When her debt-ridden father forces her into an engagement, she runs away with the help of dashing actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother in London.
But when Judith arrives in the plague-stricken capital, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another, and her play refused.
Judith and the players confront poverty in the midst of economic depression, in a society where women’s freedoms are curtailed, under a government confronting religious extremism in a climate of fear.
Judith must choose between succumbing to social pressures, and following her dream, no matter what the cost.
Shakespeare’s Sister was first performed as a staged reading at the Theatre Royal Haymarket as part of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust’s “Pitch Your Play” scheme, supported by the Noël Coward Foundation and the Vernon Charitable Trust.
It was revived as part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations at King’s College London.
Shakespeare's Sister received a full amateur production at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London in October 2016, and received its international premiere in the Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, Virginia, in February 2017.
Press Reviews
"It’s an excellent play, entertaining, well informed, thought-provoking and moving all at once. Emma is Woolf's daughter. Everyone should buy it and read it!"
— Professor Helen Hackett, Professor of Shakespeare, UCL
"This thoughtful play... [is] well-crafted, good fun and would work well as student play... [Judith’s] arrival in London and the disappointments she faces are dramatically both satisfying and disturbing. It deserves a full staging."
— The Stage
"I can wholeheartedly say that Shakespeare’s Sister will be a play that will forever be a staple in the theatre and the classroom."
— The Paragon Journal
Characters
| Character |
|---|
| Judith Shakespeare 19, Judith is bright, talented, impetuous and intense. |
| Susannah Shakespeare 9, Susannah is precocious and affectionate (can be doubled with Dorothy). |
| Hamnet Shakespeare 6, Hamnet is sweet and naïve (can be doubled with Lucy). |
| Augustine Phillips (‘Phil’) mid 20s, Phil is laddish, calculating and self-interested. |
| Edward Alleyn (‘Ned’) 26, Ned is a charismatic and successful actor. |
| William Underhill early 40s, William is steady, successful and well off. Warwickshire burr. |
| John Shakespeare 50s, John is husband to Mary and father to Judith and Will; he is a handsome, popular, confident man gone to seed. |
| Mary Shakespeare 50s, Mary is wife to John and mother to Judith and Will; she is an intelligent and affectionate woman, but poverty and loss of stability have worn her down. |
| Richard Burbage (‘Dick’) early 20s, Richard is talented and engaging, but with a teenage rebelliousness. Cockney accent. |
| Will Shakespeare 26, Will is ambitious and brilliant, but has not yet achieved the success or recognition he dreams of. |
| Phillip Henslowe (‘Henslowe’) early 40s, Henslowe is a theatre manager, brothel owner, and impresario and a prosperous and canny man. Cockney accent. |
| Joan Henslowe early 20s, Joan is Henslowe’s daughter; she is reserved and sharp, but passionate and protective. Cockney accent. |
| Lucy Morgan late teens, Lucy is affectionate, vain, sweet and seems very young. Cockney accent. |
| Dorothy Clayton early 30s, Dorothy is a cross-dressing woman with charisma and physical power. Cockney accent. |
| Sergeant A self-important petty thug (can be doubled with John). Cockney accent. |
| Soldier 1 Taciturn and violent (can be doubled with Egerton). Cockney accent. |
| Soldier 2 A complacent bully (can be doubled with Henslowe) |
| Thomas Egerton (‘Egerton’) 40s, Chivalrous, powerful, secret, a gentleman. |
| Jailor Dutiful and compassionate (can be doubled with Ned). Cockney accent. |
Videos
Emma Whipday talks to Masterclass
Publication
Shakespeare's Sister is a play written by Emma Whipday and published by Samuel French .
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Performance Rights
Available for Licensing
Amateur & Professional
Fee: Minimum Fee: $110 per performance
Restrictions: Major Markets Only (US) / Standard Restriction (UK)
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