I have been reading your engrossing novels for years – all of the sagas and the “one offs” as well. I think I have enjoyed Fools and Mortals the most, but perhaps only because it is recent. My son is an actor, writer and artistic director of a small local theatre dedicated to presenting works by emerging talent. I have seen a lot of awful theatre! The amazing thing about Shakespeare is the adaptability of his work. I met a woman who produced a play in an American inner city community center with underpriveleged teenagers most of whom could not read by having them choose the lines they felt comfortable with after having her read to them. Their production was the finest moment of their lives. My son’s company recently put on a production of the “Scottish Play” entirely in mime with music. What was amazing was that it worked without a single one of Shakespeare’s precious words. The players and director were French speakers who were intimate with the play but wanted to present it to any multicultural audience. The witches were black papers folded to tell fortunes. They flew around like crows and opened to reveal the predictions. Every scene was done with expressions and movement (and lots of fake gore). The murdered children were eggs that were smashed. The epilogue was a pile of bloody paper with smashed eggs surmounted by a golden crown made from another piece of folded paper. The play’s the thing! I hope there will be more stories set in Elizabethan/Restoration theatre. Thank you.
Anne Ridsdale Mott