Cast

Synopsis

A night out with the rude mechanicals. The characters are all second cousins of those seen in Shakespeare’s plays and include the Bard himself. In the words of the author, the characters are a homage to the greatest playwright who ever lived.

Directors Notes

I am extremely proud and pleased that BLT decided to stage Sweet William and to entrust me with its direction. As far as I am aware Bingley is only the second theatre company to stage the play, ever, so this is a lot more than an amateur premiere!

The play is set in a rough Eastcheap Tavern, The Tabard Inn which has been a regular haunt of William Shakespeare for some years. The locals are seen by others, and indeed by themselves, as thieves, drunkards, prostitutes and the dregs of society. But they also have a richness of spirit, a wit and a view on life that is priceless. Plague ravaged the population at the time and they will all have lost close friends and family to this devastating disease. Perhaps living so close to death gave them such a zest for life. Shakespeare saw the richness and diversity of character and drew heavily on them for inspiration in his plays. We have Fat Jack, the model for Sir John Falstaff, Nell (Mistress Quickly), Bella (Doll Tearsheet), Mac (Charles the Wrestler) plus bellows menders, twins, fools, thieves and musicians.

But Shakespeare was moving up in the world, just as Henry V leaves his friends at the Boars Head for affairs of state, so Shakespeare was leaving The Tabard Inn for The Court. And to make sure he didn’t come back he had killed off his most famous character in the newly premiered “Henry V. So the scene is set for a night of argument, music, fun and above all, drink.

I would like to thank all the cast, musicians and crew for their wonderful work and hope you enjoy our production as much as we have done.