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"As Anne Hathaway (1556-1623), Yvonne Hudson molded a tender character of nobility and courage out of history's fragmentary knowledge about Shakespeare's other half . . . Hudson caressed history's details with a loving imaginative touch . . . But Hudson reaches the heights of poetic beauty, and of her character's strength, in tragedy, into which she richly weaves Shakespeare's textual imagery."--Off-Off Broadway Review
Did you even know Shakespeare had a wife? Writer-actress Yvonne Hudson asks audiences this during her imaginative one-woman show "Mrs Shakespeare,Will's first & last love" a journey into the heart and mind of Anne Hathaway. 'Mrs Shakespeare' is set from 1581-1616, in Warwickshire & the memory of Anne Shakespeare. Anne welcomes the audience to New Place, the Shakespeare's home in Stratford-Upon-Avon and the house in which Shakespeare died. Exploring Shakespearean biography from a new perspective, Ms Hudson's original script tells Anne’s engaging story through with some help from Will's works--excerpts from 18 plays, songs and sonnets. The woman who married the man whose works are still the most frequently performed plays throughout the world, comes to live in Ms, Hudson's flexible, portable presentations which can be presented as interpreted history or as a full theatrical presentation. Mrs Shakespeare, unlike her namesake, travels. Ms. Hudson tells Anne's story at festivals, historical sites, schools, Shakespeare gardens, and community organizations. Mrs Shakespeare has been seen in the UK at the Tower of London and in a reading for the Stratford-Upon-Avon Writers Group. In the United States, the show has toured to a restored prairie music hall in South Dakota, at Calvary United Methodist Church (home of some of Louis Comfort Tiffany's most magnificent stained glass windows) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and at the Tribeca Playhouse, Off-Off Broadway in New York City. |
The Bard's Wife emerges from Literature's Shadow
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ABOUT THE SHAKESPEARES:
The world’s most frequently performed plays were written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Before the playwright’s success, there was little reason to document his life as a glover’s apprentice in Warwickshire, or his life as a playwright in London, for that matter. Even less is known about Agnes or Anne Hathaway (c1556-1623), the daughter of a farmer. Anne married William in 1582 after helping her widowed father with her younger siblings in Shottery, the village next to Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is likely that the Hathaway and Shakespeare families were previously acquainted. Anne and Will's first child, Susanna, was born seven months after their wedding. In 1585, Anne bore twins Judith and Hamnet. Shakespeare spent 23 years living apart from his wife and family—except for possible annual visits during Lent or when recurrent plague closed London’s theatres. However, the playwright’s great affection for them and his native countryside is expressed in his works. In their time, the Shakespeares’ “commuter marriage” provided financial security for Anne and the children and, perhaps, some relief from domestic realities for the popular writer and theatre entrepreneur. Anne was a long-running solo act, maintaining a large household while her husband became a wealthy landowner. Shakespeare died at the age of 52 on April 23, the day traditionally celebrated as his birthday. Anne outlived her husband by seven years, long enough to see William’s monument placed%2 |
Mrs Shakespeare, Will's First & Last Love
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BOOKING DETAILS FOR MRS SHAKESPEARE & OTHER PROGRAMS
New Place Collaborations also offers: Shakespeare in Song--songs and sonnets Shakespeare in Love, or Love, Will--sonnets and verse Why Shakespeare?--an interactive workshop/class in one or more sessions What Anne Hathaway Read--talk Anne Hathaway's Story Time--for young audiences and families Flights of Spirits--readings from the works of Anne Morrow Lindbergh Laura Keene--a new interpretative program on this American actress-manager. Ms. Keene has just left the stage for a long-awaited press conference. Of course, the reporters want to talk about the Lincoln Assassination... Write: New Place Collaborations E: NewPlaceCollaborations@yahoo.com |
4038 Butler Street
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Shakespeare-in-the-Schools at the University of Pittsburgh
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