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The Book of Will
The Book of Will
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Author: Lauren Gunderson Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 93 Pub. Date: 2018 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822237725 ISBN-13: 9780822237723 Cast Size: 3 female, 7 male
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About
the Play:
The Book of Will is a full-length comedic drama by Lauren
Gunderson. Seven years after the death of Shakespeare, a small
group of unexpected heroes with no money, resources, or experience
come together to compile what would become Shakespeare's First Folio.
They'll just have to borrow, beg,
and band together to get it done. Their translation of words
from the stage to the page would forever change theatre and
literature.
The Book of Will follows Shakespeare's own company as they
attempt to collect and publish the First Folio after his death.
Without William Shakespeare, we
wouldn't have literary masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet. But
without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of
Shakespeare's plays forever! This rapid fire and buoyant play tells
the story of those who knew Shakespeare best as they fight to collect
37 of his plays into one volume against all odds. After the death of
their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the
First Folio. They may not have any money or clear-cut rights to his
work, but they're armed with wit, humour, a deep camaraderie and a
passion to preserve the plays that shaped their lives. In order to
honour the legacy of the man they loved, they'll have to battle an
unscrupulous book publisher, a boozy poet laureate, and their own
rag-tag company of actors and stage managers. Amidst the noise and
colour of Elizabethan London, The Book of Will
finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and
sheds new light on a man you may think you know.
The Book of Will premiered in 2017 at the Denver Center for
the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. Since
then the play had premieres at professional theatres around the US
and has been mounted by high schools, colleges, and community
theatres.
Cast: 3 female, 7 male
What people say:
"The Book of
Will…unequivocally announces Gunderson as a playwright
with whom to be reckoned. It is, quite frankly, one of the best plays
I have ever seen. It will bring tears of both laughter and sorrow to
all but the most jaded audience member's eyes. It is, in a word, a
triumph." — Boulder Weekly
"[Gunderson] has peopled the
stage with lively, historically based characters…She paints a vivid
portrait of the times in language sometimes formal, sometimes poetic
and often…contemporary…She also gives a real feel for theater
life and what it means to be an actor; you sense this is a work of
both scholarship and love…[The Book of Will]
serves as homage to those who sacrificed to make the first folio
happen and to Shakespeare's magnificent words." — Westword
About the Playwright:
Lauren M. Gunderson is an American playwright,
screenwriter, and short story author originally from Atlanta,
Georgia. She received her BA in English/Creative Writing at Emory
University, and her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she
was also a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship.
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Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon
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