Somewhat Recommended
We are all familiar with the existence of books entitled the complete works of William Shakespeare and may likely have heard of priceless editions of what is called the first folio recognized as being the first compilation of his works.
“The Book of Will” by Lauren Gunderson, currently presented by Promethean Theatre Ensemble, is a fanciful, mostly humorous, fictional account of what it might have been like for Shakespeare’s friends and supporters to preserve his works for posterity.
The premise depends on the primary individuals who are referenced in the publication of the first folio. These include two fellow actors and longtime colleagues of Shakespeare, John Heminges (Jared Dennis) and Henry Condell (Ben Veatch). Both are credited with compiling and editing the plays for the Folio.
Also there are William Jaggard (Brendan Hutt) and Isaac Jaggard (Kevin Sheehan), the printers responsible for actually producing the physical book and playwright Ben Jonson (James Lewis), Shakespeare’s longtime friend and rival who wrote a dedication.
Hutt also plays Richard Burbage a celebrated actor of the time, considered to be a close collaborator of The Bard.
Another player is Ralph Crane (Jonathan Perkins) a professional scribe known for his role in transcribing and editing several of Shakespeare’s works. In addition, there are comedic roles enthusiastically played by Jesus Barajas.
This having been a largely male dominated society the ladies in this story operate primarily behind the scenes, principally in the persons of Rebecca Heminges (Anne Sheridan Smith) and Alice Heminges (Brittani Yawn) John’s wife and daughter respectively; as well as Elizabeth Condell (Sabine Wan) wife of Henry. The two wives and daughter provide insight and encouragement throughout the arduous process of identifying, procuring, editing, and producing the precious manuscript.
“The play’s the thing” and “this is the short and long of it . . . the web of [this play] is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
To begin I found the script itself amusing and the premise thought provoking. After all, someone had to compile this evidently fragmented material in order for it to be bound for the benefit of future generations and I am glad of it. This accounting of what may have transpired is as good a guess as any.
Here’s where a few things went wrong. Most of the jokes are amusing but not really laugh-out-loud hysterical. The problem was a few members of the audience chose to issue loud guffaws or ear-splitting cackles. In this case it very nearly ruined the first half hour of the play for me but thankfully trailed off as the play progressed. I believe that I’ve noticed this to generally be a trend especially in smaller theaters lately and one that I hope will cease sometime soon.
The company decided not to try to perform this production with British accents which is fine, and each of the players did a fine job delivering their lines but, in many cases, there was an overall modern attitude to their delivery and comportment that I found mildly annoying within the context of this Elizabethan plotline.
“The purpose of playing… was and is, to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature.”
Anne Sheridan Smith was the one who struck a tone and rhythm closest to what I would hope to hear. She seemed to do the best at internalizing the thoughts and feeling behind the words and speak them with heartfelt meaning. Brendan Hutt also had a theatrical comportment that seemed right for the material as did Jonathan Perkins as Crane.
I’m mixed on the performance of James Lewis as Jonson. When he recited Elizabethan texts, I could listen to his booming basso all day but the rest of his performance was too loose. I would think of Jonson as a drunkard perhaps but still a commanding person with inner dignity always working to maintain command of the stage.
The costumes of Rachel Sypniewski helped the overall atmosphere but I would like to have seen a few hats or caps especially on the men.
As they plot the folio project, Dennis and Veach have a lot of dialogue together which felt flat to me. But at some point, I closed my eyes to listen to them and realized that much of the issue came as a result of the awkward staging. It was all too static. They were often sitting bent over some papers at a small table stage left.
Likewise, Yawn as Alice was endlessly stuck behind an atrocious cube that served as the bar within the tavern where the action takes place. She had little stage business to occupy her and her relationship to the men at the table seemed distant.
The set design by Trevor Dotson was a complete miss for me. The bar is the focal point in the middle of the stage and it did nothing to add to the period décor. A piece of wood on two saw horses would have been better instead of what looked like a repurposed airport podium. The matching Formica credenza at the back must have come with it as part of an ensemble and was totally boring and out of place. Even a bit of foliage might have spruced it up. When it came to John and Rebecca’s pivotal bedroom scene it just looked like nobody cared and distracted from the moment.
The lighting of Jackson Mikkelsen could have helped more. I appreciated the few attempts at isolating the action but it needs to be amped up to be much more dramatic, especially in the bedroom scene and the following scene between John and Henry sitting on the floor. In both of these cases the mood would have been greatly enhanced by blacking out most of the set and isolating the duos.
I lay nearly all of my criticism at the foot of director Beth Wolf. Maybe the idea was, “we are not going to lean too heavily into the era.” Combined with everything I’ve said already, it just seemed haphazard. The actors were fine and the script is good. She had the clay but sorry, it just did not come together for me as a polished production.
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors… were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.”
I loved the finale and am not unhappy as much as mildly disappointed. I wanted to love this. I did enjoy the story and some of the individual performances so for that reason say this is somewhat recommended.
DETAILS: “The Book of Will” by Promethean Theatre Ensemble is at the Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL through October 25, 2025. Running time is 2 hours with one intermission. For tickets and information visit thedentheatre.com or call 773-697-3830.
Reviewer: Reno Lovison
(ED note: Saw the American Players Theatre’s do this in Spring Green, WI a few years ago. The production was magnificent. So don’t write off this play by Lauren Gunderson. Just watch for it. JJ)
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