Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog (2018 Production) Theatre Review

Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog production photo

Not much is known about Shakespeare’s last few years, when he stopped writing and returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. What led to that move? How was his relationship with his wife, Anne? Had he missed her while at work in London? How did the death of their son, Hamnet, affect them and their relationship? What’s the deal with Anne being bequeathed Shakespeare’s “second best bed”? We don’t know, and likely will never know, but people have been speculating about the answers to these questions for a long time. Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog takes us into Shakespeare’s home on April 22, 1616 and provides for us possible answers to these questions.

Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog had its world premiere at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival and then toured the UK in 2016. Now this absolutely wonderful one-act play has come to Los Angeles, with its original cast of Philip Whitchurch as Will and Sally Edwards as Anne, and original director, Julia St. John. The set is fairly simple, with a large chest overflowing with papers and other items, and a mess of papers on the floor around it. (As the audience is on three sides of the play space, which is at floor level, one curious audience member was able to bend down for a closer look at the papers before the start of the play.) Stage left of the chest is a small bench, and that is basically it for the set. As the play begins, there is the sound of a dog barking, and Anne calls out the dog’s name, “Crab,” which Shakespeare fans will recall is the name of Launce’s dog in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona. It is the first of many references to the works and characters of Shakespeare’s plays, and the play soon reveals the reason for the references – many of the lines and circumstances come from Will and Anne’s relationship, including Kate’s famous speech from The Taming Of The Shrew, which – in the world of this play – Anne spoke and Will wrote. She accuses him of writing their lives for all the world to hear. This play itself adopts elements of Shakespeare’s theatre, with both characters at times directly addressing the audience. At one point, Will wants to address the audience alone, and so gets Anne to leave briefly. He playfully recites lines from Julius Caesar and As You Like It, and it is clear that he is happy to have an audience. In fact, he delights in it. But Anne returns to spoil his fun. Though she too will eventually read from his plays, and even engage him in a bit of acting, as she helps him to recount a funny anecdote.

Early on, we learn that Will is waiting for Ben Jonson, who never arrives. If that reminds you of another famous play, it is intended. In fact, later there is a direct (and quite humorous) reference to Waiting For Godot. Both Will and Anne, due perhaps to age, have trouble with their memories, and there are moments when we wonder if the mixing of Will’s work with their lives might not be caused by some form of dementia. As funny as this play is – and it is quite funny – it is also surprisingly touching and moving, and deals with some serious subjects, such as aging and loss of faculties, fidelity, and how parents continue after the death of a child. As for the issue of fidelity, Anne uses Will’s sonnets to question his faithfulness, just as we do. In some ways, Anne acts as our voice, asking some of the questions that Shakespeare fans have been asking for ages. Who is the dark lady? The play is most moving when it addresses the subjects of the dog and of their son, and we see genuine affection and love between the two characters. Both actors turn in excellent performances.

You certainly don’t have to be a Shakespeare scholar to enjoy this production, but the more you know about Shakespeare, the more delight you will find in this play. It is interesting, for example, that both Will and Anne refer to the “a rose by any other word” line from Romeo And Juliet, with Will using the preferred Q2 reading of “word,” and Anne later using the Q1 reading of “name.” And in addition to references to Shakespeare’s works, there are references to the few written accounts we have of his life. For example, Ben Jonson’s line about how Will had “small Latin and less Greek” is spoken by Anne in this play. And later Will calls Webster an “upstart crow,” using the criticism he himself received early on in his own career from Robert Greene. This play even makes use of the legend of Will getting caught poaching as a young man. And, yes, the play provides a reasonable – and incredibly sweet – explanation for the line in Shakespeare’s will about his “second best bed” going to Anne. But, as clever as this play can be in its use of Shakespeare’s lines and material about Shakespeare, at its heart this is about the relationship between Will and Anne, and that should speak to those with even little or no knowledge of Shakespeare’s works.

Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog is now playing at The Edye, at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center. It’s a short run – only eight performances – so don’t wait on this. After this, the play moves to San Jose. I highly recommend checking out this production. The Edye is located at 1310 11th St. in Santa Monica, California. There is a free parking lot, which you can access from Santa Monica Blvd.