Besse's Will ~ Lovin' Shakespeare.

Originally created for ArtSpring Presents and the exitStageLeft SOSSI Festival.

 

The summer of 1593, London is shuttered and the theatres closed due to plague. Queen Elizabeth moves her court to South Hampton to attend a wedding. Apocryphally it is said that Elizabeth the 1st, herself, plays Titania, Queen of the Faeries, in the premiere production of A MidSummer Night's Dream. 

 

Besse’s Will is an imagined encounter between the good queen, herself, and the quill of her age. It is a love letter to the theatre, the play includes sections from more than 20 of Shakespeare's plays, as well as Elizabeth the 1st's speeches to parliament, selections from the bible and of course original writing by Jeffrey Renn.

Christina Penhale and Jeffrey Renn, joined by renowned musicians Jim Schultz (Guitar and Lute) and Joanne Whitehead (Baroque Recorder) star in this theatrical buffet, told through song, sonnet and scene where you will fall In Love with Shakespeare over and over again.

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Meet the cast Jeffrey Renn & Christina Penhale.