Overview
It’s 1606, the plague is raging, and William Shakespeare is very sick… with writer’s block. Unhappily quarantined with his peasant apprentice, the Bard tries in vain to write his next great masterpiece. Up through the window climbs Jane Anger, a Cunning Woman with a massive sack, and a scheme to change history.
Casting & Production
Casting
JANE ANGER — 30s/40s, Black, female, working class. A Cunning Woman.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE — 42, White, male, upper class. The voice of All People.
FRANCIS SIR — Older than 16 and looks it, White, male, peasant background. “Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself…”
ANNE HATHAWAY — 50 and looks great, White or White-passing, female. “Will they ever stop hating on Anne Hathaway?”
O.S. PLAGUE SCREECHER/ O.S. PEASANT WOMAN — Played by anyone.
Setting
Place
London
Time
1606
Reviews
“[JANE ANGER] has a liveliness that the exceptional cast runs away with, delivering Monahon’s mile-a-minute gags with zest.”
—The New York Times
“Monahon…flourishes here, her writing fleet and crisp and silly by turns… Jane Anger practically steams in the cool March night—still hot with the impulse that made it.”
—New York Magazine
Media
