"Shakespeare's Will" a One Woman Performance that Will Startle with Insight of the Wife He Wronged

Playwright Vern Thiessen (b Canada 1964) presented an enlightening albeit dispiriting thesis on William Shakespeare's life as told by his wife and mother of his 3 children, Anne Hathaway (a commanding portrayal.)  So much ado has been rightly made of Shakespeare's voluminous dramatist contributions.  However, this clever biopic accounting is filled contrition concerning Shakespeare as an absent & vengeful husband.  The play begins on the eve of Shakespeare's burial. Anne Hathaway speaks aloud to her late husband, "The sea was the greater lover. You were always a rocky shore".   Clutching a parchment in hand, she vehemently defies Joan, William's sister's entreaties to read what is her late husband's will.   "What a hateful, vicious woman is she," says Anne.  Hathaway tells the history of their relationship which began with a flirtatious banter at the local festival leading to a sexual liaison in Anne's family's barn.  Only afterward she learns he is a mere 18 to her 26 years.  She seems to discern William's sexual preference (not that it matters to her) for boys.  Two months later she finds herself pregnant.  Anne informs William and they laughing agree to marry.  Her father does not share her glee.  He has only harsh sentiments for the poor feckless young man.  In this clever & concise 1 hour monologue Anne addresses William.   She consents to his wish to live apart from her & their children in order to write for months at a time. Months lapse into years and Anne unburdens us with her unpleasantness & tragedies.  Anne shares her grievances and the horrors of the plagues that blighted her mother & entire villages.  Anne is accompanied in her performance by composer/musician Rima Fand.  Fand lends her skills on the keyboard, violin, lute and small percussive instruments which ground the play in the 16th C and progresses the play nicely.  There are jarring dings signifying a shift in time sequence.  The intrigue of knowing what Shakespeare transcribed in his last will & testament builds as Joan's unwelcome but impending visit approaches.  We empathize with Anne's utter dismay & betrayal discovering her husband smitted her and bequeathed their home to Joan and left her little of value.  Thiessen's assertions are smartly corroborated by a parting parchment gift that lists the facts known from  Shakespeare's will.  The playwright does infer that Shakespeare was homosexual and hints at Francis Bacon possibly being the talent behind his literary legacy.  "Shakespeare's Will" will win many thespians favor but likely garner displeasure from the plebeian masses.