Who knows what Shakespeare looked like? We might think we do, yet as Pip Utton points out in his solo performance of At Home With Will Shakespeare at the Prague Fringe, the most famous images we have of him are not necessarily that reliable.
We are made to feel as though we are his guest as he wears ‘his heart upon his sleeve’.
So let Utton, one of the UK’s leading performers of monodrama be that man; that he might on ‘your imaginary forces work’. Join him as he creates plays and parts for his band of actors, The King’s Men at the Globe, and reveals the man behind the words. Listen to some of the most famous lines ever written, all beautifully delivered by a man who has perfected his art over decades.
The setting is simple yet contains all the tools of his trade. A desk, worthy of a child at school, with parchments scattered all over it containing his various attempts to write the next great speech, the all-important quill and the even more important bottle of red wine for stimulation. He looks as though he’s already had a few. His ruddy complexion glistens in the light, despite the camouflage of bristles from not having shaved for days, and his hair remains dishevelled throughout. His baggy clothes befit the period, but give the impression he’s been wearing them for years, although he has a couple of changes that show him to be a man who relishes being swathed in robes of bright colour. It’s spartan, functional yet homely and a credible setting for the Bard to rattle off a few plays; his office and study.
A notable feature of his performance and the writing is the seamlessness with which he switches from narrative about his life and times into recitations from the plays and then breaks the fourth wall and becomes one of us. Often wandering off the stage and up the aisle, especially when he sees someone who will make the focus of his next piece, he particularly enjoys finding an attractive lady to whom he can address romantic verse and show us the Shakespeare the womaniser.
Then we are transported to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to learn of his beloved wife Anne and his two children. This leads later to one of the most touching scenes in which he has to return there as his son is taken ill. He abandons writing and rehearsals, but nothing can be done for the boy he named Hamlet. Reduced to tears he laments the boy’s tragic passing. Back in London he immerses us more deeply into the age with tales of his disputes with Marlowe, rivalry with Ben Johnson and the demands of his leading actor Richard Burbage.
At Home With Will Shakespeare is packed with details of the man’s life and dips into many of the famous speeches. As the title suggests, we are made to feel as though we are his guest as he wears ‘his heart upon his sleeve’ to reveal that beneath all the triumphs of his writing was a man who would probably been amazed to think that his works were still being performed over four hundred years after his death. After all, he was just a writer trying to earn a living.
