Theatre Review: Shakespeare’s Will Is One To Witness
Synopsis: Loosely based on the few historical facts known about the Bard, Anne, and their family life, SHAKESPEARE’S WILL is a lively, humorous and emotional depiction of Anne Hathaway – accidental mother, proudly imperfect wife, and defiantly liberated woman in Elizabethan England.The play begins on the afternoon of Shakespeare’s funeral. Anne knows
she must read her husband’s will, but before she does, the unreserved widow relives her colorful and unorthodox life.
Written by Vern Thiessen and starring Tannis Kowalchuk, Shakespeare’s Will takes a few historical facts, and in 60 minutes, build an entire life you never knew: Anne Hathaway. Before it became the name of one of the biggest actresses of our time, it was solely the name of a woman who stood by the biggest writer of his time: William Shakespeare. Yet, who are you as a person, when you are the support system of a legend?
I was always raised to believe a spouse is a support system, and wives are often treated as such. Yet, nobody ever questions how a support system needs love. I mention this because Kowalchuk plays Hathaway as the the strength to everyone, but with no one to turn to but herself. She is, basically, a single mother to three children, and a loyal wife to a husband that has created an entire life, with a couple of lovers, away from her in the city. More hurtful, he wants to keep it that way.
It is hard to say this, but I did not like William Shakespeare after this play. I, literally, walked away thinking Anne deserved better. The two met when William was 18 and Anne was 26; taking care of her father, two brothers, and being growingly judged by society for being “too much” of age to not be married. Yet, in one night of sexual exploration, she gets pregnant, and William finds his equal in someone who accepts his creativity and desire to be “free”. Yet, that is the problem; he found someone who understood his desire to live his life according to his definitions, but never questioned whether Anne had her own.
The sadness of Shakespeare’s Will is that Anne is so dismissed in her life. She is unseen and uncelebrated despite being so vibrant, funny, and eager to give love as much as she wants to receive it. Yet, I could not see all these human characteristics without Kowalchuk’s stellar performance. Directed by Mimi McGurl as quiet, intimate confrontation between a wife, and her husband’s ghost. It is not easy, for any actor, to take a dark room, a few props, and their imagination to paint the life of someone they never knew in contrast to someone we all know. Once again, I have to applaud Kowalchuk’s performance because I walked away feeling like I had no idea who Shakespeare was, as a person, but felt deeply connected with Hathaway’s plight as an uncared for caretaker.
Playing at HERE Theater, Shakespeare’s Will is worth a see. It is a quick, sprightly swim into the meaning of marriage, the oppressive nature of this institution towards women, and the insurmountable pressure women are placed in to be superhuman mothers making up for absentee fathers. As Kowalchuk’s Anne Hathaway cries, dreams, screams, and loves, you want to protect the soul of a woman you never met, but feel you know through the hearts of every modern woman balancing her ambitions versus stigmas that she should solely cater to wants of men. To Buy Tickets For Shakespeare’s Will Click Here. The HERE Theater Is Located HERE 145 Sixth Ave. (enter on Dominick Street one block south of Spring), NY, NY 10013
