by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. DAY.
SKY. Over which a title "LONDON--SUMMER 1593" appears.
Title card: In the glory days of the Elizabethan theatre
two playhouses were fighting it out for writers and
audiences. North of the city was the Curtain Theatre,
home to England's most famous actor, Richard Burbage.
Across the river was the competition, built by Philip
Henslowe, a business with a cash flow problem...
...The Rose...
Gradually a building is revealed, The Rose Theatre, three-
tiered, open to the elements and empty. On the floor,
roughly printed, a poster--torn, soiled, out of date. It
says:
SEPT. 7TH & 8TH AT NOON
MR. EDWARD ALLEYN AND THE ADMIRAL'S MEN AT THE ROSE
THEATRE, BANKSIDE
THE LAMENTABLE TRAGEDIE OF THE MONEYLENDER REVENG'D
OVER THIS the screams of a man under torture. The screams
are coming from the curtained stage.
VOICE (O.S.)
You Mongrel! Why do you howl When it
is I who am bitten?
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
The theatre owner, PHILLIP HENSLOWE, is the man
screaming. HENSLOWE'S boots are on fire. He is pinioned
in a chair, with his feet stuck out over the hot colas of
a fire burning in a brazier. He is being held in that
position by LAMBERT, who is a thug employed by FENNYMAN,
who is the owner of the VOICE. The fourth man, FREES, is
FENNYMAN'S bookkeeper.
FENNYMAN
What am I, Mr. Lambert?
LAMBERT
Bitten, Mr. Fennyman.
FENNYMAN
How badly bitten, Mr. Frees?
FREES
Twelve pounds, one shilling and four
pence, Mr. Fennyman, including
interest.
HENSLOWE
Aaagh! I can pay you!
FENNYMAN
When?
HENSLOWE
Two weeks, three at the most, Aaaagh!
For pity's sake.
FENNYMAN
Take his feet out. Where will you get
FREES
(the mathematical genius with
a notebook)
Sixteen pounds, five shillings and
nine pence
FENNYMAN
including interest in three weeks?
HENSLOWE
I have a wonderful new play!
FENNYMAN
Put his feet in.
HENSLOWE
It's a comedy.
FENNYMAN
Cut his nose off.
HENSLOWE
A new comedy. By Will ;">Shakespeare!
FENNYMAN
And his ears.
HENSLOWE
And a share. We will be partners, Mr.
Fennyman!
FENNYMAN
(hesitating)
Partners!
HENSLOWE
It's a crowd-tickler--mistaken
identities, a shipwreck, a pirate
king, a bit with a dog, and ">love
triumphant.
LAMBERT
I think I've seen it. I didn't like
it.
HENSLOWE
This time it is by ;">Shakespeare.
FENNYMAN
What's the title?
HENSLOWE
Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter.
FENNYMAN
Good title.
FENNYMAN snaps his fingers at FREES and LAMBERT. LAMBERT
unties HENSLOWE, FREES starts writing a contract.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
A play takes time. Find actors…
rehearsals…let's say open in three
weeks. That's--what--five hundred
groundlings at tuppence each, in
addition four hundred groundlings
tuppence each, in addition four
hundred backsides at three pence--a
penny extra for a cushion, call it two
hundred cushions, say two performance
for safety how much is that Mr. Frees?
FREES
Twenty pounds to the penny, Mr.
Fennyman.
FENNYMAN
Correct!
HENSLOWE
But I have to pay the actors and the
authors.
FENNYMAN
A share of the profits.
HENSLOWE
There's never any
FENNYMAN
Of course not!
HENSLOWE
(impressed)
Mr. Fennyman, I think you may have hit
on something.
FENNYMAN slaps a contract down on the table next to n ink-
pot and quill.
FENNYMAN
Sign here.
HENSLOWE takes the quill and signs.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
Romeo and Ethel The Pirate's
Daughter…Almost finished?
HENSLOWE
Without doubt he is completing it at
this very moment.
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY
A small cramped space in the eaves of a building. A
cluttered shelf containing various objects, wedged
between crumpled pieces of paper. Among those we have
time to observe: a skull, a mug that says A PRESENT FROM
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON.
At infrequent intervals further pieces of crumpled paper
are tossed towards the shelf. The man who is throwing
them, WILL ;">SHAKESPEARE, is bent over a table, writing
studiously with a quill.
Now we see what he is writing: Will is practising his
signature, over and over again. "Will Shagsbeard…W
Shakspur…William Shasper…" Each time he is dissatisfied,
and each time he crumples, and tosses it away.
Suddenly WILL becomes impatient. He jumps up and goes to
the loft area in the rafters, where he sleeps, and starts
to pull on his boots. At this point the door opens and
HENSLOWE walks in. He is out of breath and his feet hurt.
HENSLOWE
Will! Where is my play? Tell me you
have it nearly done! Tell me you have
it started.
(desperately)
You have begun?
WILL
(struggling with his boots)
Doubt that the stars are fire, doubt
that the sun doth move
HENSLOWE
No, no, we haven't the time. Talk
prose. Where is my play?
WILL
(tapping his forehead and
heading out the door)
It is all locked safe in here
HENSLOWE
God be praised!
(then doubt)
Locked?
WILL
As soon as I have found my muse
EXT. STREET. OUTSIDE WILL'S HOUSE. DAY.
WILL lives in a crowded area of the city. Hawkers are
crying their wares, tract-sellers, delivery boys, and
merchants go about their business. HENSLOWE catches up
with WILL as he strides purposefully along.
HENSLOWE
(catching up)
Who is she this time?!
WILL
She is always Aphrodite.
HENSLOWE
Aphrodite Baggot who does it behind
the Dog and Trumpet?
WILL
Henslowe, you have no soul so how can
you understand the emptiness that
seeks a soulmate?
HENSLOWE
Well, I am a dead man and buggered to
boot. My theatre is close by the
plague these twelve weeks, my company
is playing the inn-yards
of England, while Burbage and the
Chamberlain's Men are invited to court
and receive ten pounds to play your
piece, written for my theatre, by my
writer, at my risk when you were green
and grateful -
WILL
What piece? Richard Crookback?
HENSLOWE
No--it's comedy they want, Will!
Comedy! Like Romeo and Ethel?
WILL
Who wrote that?
HENSLOWE
Nobody! You are writing it for me! I
gave you three pounds a month since.
WILL
Half what you owed me. I am still due
for One Gentleman of Verona.
EXT. ANOTHER STREET. DAY
HENSLOWE'S hardly paused in his appeal.
HENSLOWE
. . . Will! What is money to you and
me? I, your patron, you my wordwright!
When the plague lifts Burbage will
have a new Christopher Marlowe for the
Curtain and I have nothing for the
Rose.
WILL stops.
WILL
Mr. Henslowe, will you lend me fifty
pounds?
HENSLOWE
(staggered)
Fifty pounds? What for?
WILL
Burbage offers me a partnership in the
Chamberlain's Men. For fifty pounds my
hired player days are over.
HENSLOWE
Cut out my heart! Throw my liver to
the dogs!
WILL
(answering for him)
No, then.
WILL turns down a side street.
EXT. MARKETPLACE. DAY.
HENSLOWE and WILL are crossing a crowded marketplace
where a Puritan preacher, MAKEPEACE, is haranguing anyone
who will listen.
MAKEPEACE
and the Lord shall smite them! Yea,
harken to me. The theatres are
handmaidens of the devil! Under the
name of the Curtain, the players
breed lewdness in your wives,
rebellion in your servants, idleness
in your apprentices and wickedness in
your children! And the Rose smells
thusly rank by any name! I say a
plague on both their houses!
As he passes WILL gratefully makes a mental note.
EXT. DR. MOTH'S HOUSE. DAY.
WILL turns into a narrow street and walks toward a
doorway.
HENSLOWE
Where are you going?
WILL
To my weekly confession.
As HENSLOWE arrives the door closes in his face. A sign
identifies the place as the premises of Dr. MOTH,
apothecary, alchemist, astrologer, seer, interpreter of
dreams, and priest of psyche. HENSLOWE looks puzzled.
INT. DR. MOTH'S HOUSE. DAY
A stuffed alligator hangs from the ceiling, pills,
potions, amulets and charms, star charts and mystic
paraphernalia festoon the place. Testimonials and framed
degrees hang on the walls.
WILL lying on a couch, on his back. His eyes are closed
DR. MOTH sits by the couch, listening to WILL and
occasionally making a note on a pad he holds on his knee.
What we have here is nothing less than the false dawn of
analysis. The session is being timed by an hourglass.
WILL
Words, words, words…once, I had the
gift…I could make ">love out of words as
a potter makes cups out of clay ">love
that overthrows empires, ">love that
binds two hearts together come
hellfire and brimstones…for sixpence a
line, I could cause a riot in a
nunnery…but now
DR. MOTH
And yet you tell me you lie with
women?
WILL seems unwiling to respond. DR. MOTH refers to his
notes.
DR. MOTH (CONT'D)
Black Sue, Fat Phoebe, Rosaline,
Burbage's seamstress; Aphrodite, who
does it behind the Dog and
WILL
(interrupting)
Aye, now and again, but what of it? I
have lost my gift.
DR. MOTH
I am here to help you. Tell me in your
own words.
WILL
I have lost my gift.
(not finding this easy)
It's as if my quill is broken. As if
the organ of the imagination has dried
up. As if the proud tower of my genius
has collapsed.
DR. MOTH
Interesting.
WILL
Nothing comes.
DR. MOTH
Most interesting.
WILL
It is like trying to a pick a lock
with a wet herring.
DR. MOTH
(shrewdly)
Tell me, are you lately humbled in the
act of ">love?
WILL turns towards him. How did he know that?
DR. MOTH (CONT'D)
How long has it been?
WILL
A goodly length in times past, but
lately
DR. MOTH
No, no. You have a wife, children
The sand runs through the hourglass.
LATER
Not much sand left.
WILL
I was a lad of eighteen. Anne Hathaway
was a woman, half as old again.
DR. MOTH
A woman of property?
WILL
(shrugs)
She had a cottage. One day, she was
three months gone with child, so
DR. MOTH
And your relations?
WILL
On my mother's side the Ardens
DR. MOTH
No, your marriage bed.
WILL
Four years and a hundred miles away in
Stratford.
A cold bed too, since the twins were
born. Banishment was a blessing.
DR. MOTH
So now you are free to ">love
WILL
yet cannot ">love nor write it.
DR. MOTH reaches for a glass snake bracelet.
DR. MOTH
Here is a bangle found in Psyche's
temple on Olympus cheap at four pence.
Write your name on a paper and feed it
in the snake.
WILL looks at the snake bangle in wonder.
WILL
Will it restore my gift?
DR. MOTH
The woman who wears the snake will
dream of you, and your gift will
return. Words will flow like a river.
I will see you in a week.
He holds out his hand. WILL drops a sovereign into it,
and takes the bracelet.
EXT. DR. MOTH'S HOUSE. DAY.
WILL comes out. HENSLOWE is waiting, standing in a horse
trough to ease his feet. WILL walks straight past him,
and HENSLOWE follows.
HENSLOWE
Now where? Will?
WILL
To the Palace at Whitehall.
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
WHITEHALL means nothing yet. We are behind closed
curtains on a stage busy with preparations for the
imminent performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona. This is
not a theatre but a banqueting hall, as we will see.
RICHARD BURBAGE is to play "PROTEUS." A BOY PLAYER will
play "SILVIA," and last minute improvements to his makeup
etc. are being applied by BURBAGE'S mistress ROSALINE.
"LAUNCE," one of the clowns, is the famous comedian WILL
KEMPE. "LAUNCE'S" dog, CRAB is in KEMPE'S charge and is
not helping much. There is no set. A helpful placard
reading VERONA--AN OPEN PLACE, is ready to hand. MUSICIANS
can be heard tuning their instruments. From the other
side of the curtain there is an expectant bubbub. KEMPE
leads the dog into the wings and rummages in a box of
proops. He finds a skull. He has one foot on the box, his
elbow on his knee, he looks at the skull…in other words
he reminds us of Hamlet. We see this from the POV of
WILL, who is just entering through a door backstage.
WILL
(approaching)
Prithee, Mr. Kempe, break a leg. You
too, good Crab.
KEMPE
Crab is nervous. He has never played
the Palace. When will you write me a
tragedy, Will? I could do it.
WILL
No, they would laugh at Seneca if you
played it.
WILL'S attention has been caught by ROSALINE, BURBAGE'S
mistress. ROSALINE is big breasted, dark-eyed, dark-
haired, sexual.
BURBAGE
(to ROSALINE)
My sleeve wants for a button, Mistress
Rosaline, where were my seamstress's
eyes?
BURBAGE kisses her mouth and slaps her behind. He comes
over to greet WILL.
BURBAGE (CONT'D)
There is no dog in the first scene,
Will Kempe, thank you. How goes it
Will?
WILL
I am still owed money for this play,
Burbage.
BURBAGE
Not from me. I only stole it. When are
you coming over to the Chamberlain's
Men?
WILL
When I have fifty pounds.
ROSALINE brings over the last elements of BURBAGE'S
costume and helps him into them.
BURBAGE
Are you writing?
WILL
(nods somewhat defensively)
A comedy. All but done, a pirate
comedy, wonderful.
BURBAGE
What is the chief part?
WILL
Romeo. Wit, swordsman, lover.
BURBAGE
The title?
WILL
Romeo
BURBAGE
I will play him. Bring it tomorrow.
WILL
It's for Henslowe. He paid me.
BURBAGE
How much?
WILL
Ten pounds.
BURBAGE
You're a liar.
BURBAGE digs under his costume for his purse, which is on
a waistband, over his corset.
WILL
I swear it. He wants Romeo for Ned and
the Admiral's Men.
BURBAGE
Ned is wrong for it.
WILL turns to see HENSLOWE approaching.
BURBAGE (CONT'D)
(to WILL)
Here is two sovereigns--I'll give you
two more when you show me the pages.
WILL
Done.
HENSLOWE
(arriving)
Burbage, I will see you hanged for a
pickpocket.
BURBAGE
The Queen has commanded, she loves a
comedy and the Master of the Revels
favours us.
HENSLOWE
And what favour does Mr. Tilney
receive from you?
BURBAGE
Ask him.
The Master of the Revels (TILNEY) comes through the
curtain officiously.
TILNEY
She comes!
He disappears back through the curtains. The hubbub falls
silent, rather dramatically, and all the busy PLAYERS
know what that means: they all crowd to the curtain and
find places to peep through.
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BANQUETING HALL. FRONT OF
HOUSE/STAGE. DAY.
THE POV OF THE PLAYERS.
The arrival of QUEEN ELIZABETH, aged sixty, coming to
take her place in the audience at front centre. The hill
is crowded with lords and ladies, bowing ELIZABETH to her
seat, which is raised high on a pedestal, affording the
QUEEN an uninterrupted view of the play, and the audience
an uninterrupted view of the QUEEN. Trumpets sound.
Close on a small piece of paper: a quill is writing "W.
;">Shakespeare." WILL rolls the paper up carefully and slips
it into the mouth of the snake bangle.
The curtain draws back and CONDELL as "VALENTINE" and
BURBAGE as "PROTEUS" begin the play.
CONDELL AS VALENTINE
"Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus;
Home-keeping youth have ever homely
wits…"
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BANQUETING HALL. THE
WINGS/BACKSTAGE. DAY.
With BURBAGES'S presence accounted for on stage, ROSALINE
curls an arm around WILL'S neck. They kiss hungrily.
After a moment, WILL pulls back.
ROSALINE
When will you write me a sonnet, Will?
WILL
I have lost my gift.
ROSALINE
You left it in my bed. Come to look
for it again.
WILL
Are you to be my muse, ROSALINE?
ROSALINE
Burbage has my keeping but you have my
heart.
WILL takes the snake bracelet and slips it onto her arm.
ROSALINE looks at it, then at WILL. Then they kiss again,
but WILL is distracted by the sound of coughing from the
auditorium.
WILL
You see? The consumptives plot against
me. "Will ;">Shakespeare has a play, let
us go and cough through it."
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BANQUETING HALL. STAGE. DAY.
"VALENTINE" is on stage with "PROTEUS."
CONDELL AS VALENTINE
"To be in ">love, where scorn is bought with groans: Coy
looks with heart sore sighs; One fading moment's mirth
With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights…"
As the scene continues, WILL appears at the back of the
hall and finds himself next to HENSLOWE.
WILL
I feel a scene coming on.
HENSLOWE
Is it about a pirate's daughter?
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BACK OF THE BANQUETING HALL/STAGE.
DAY.
Laughter. It is later, and KEMPE is now on stage with his
dog. The audience is roaring.
HENSLOWE
You see? Comedy.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S idiosyncratic laugh rises above the
others.
QUEEN
Well played, Master Crab, I commend
you.
She throws a sweetheart on the stage and the dog wolfs it
down. Everyone applauds.
HENSLOWE
">Love and a bit with a dog, that's what
they like.
Now we meet VIOLA. VIOLA DE LESSEPS is twenty-five and
beautiful, and she is laughing with great natural
enjoyment. She sits slightly apart from her small family
group--her parents, SIR ROBERT DE LESSEPS and LADY
MARGARET DE LESSEPS. Part of the group but seated behind
as befits her lower status is VIOLA'S NURSE.
Elsewhere is LORD WESSEX, our villain. WESSEX is in his
forties, dark cruel, self-important. He has noticed
VIOLA. The nurse notices him.
INT. WHITEHALL PALACE. BANQUETING HALL. FRONT OF
HOUSE/STAGE. DAY.
LATER. "VALENTINE" is on stage alone. He is speaking the
speech rather more coarsely than the version we hear
later.
CONDELL AS VALENTINE
"What light is light if Silvia be not
seen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by?
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of
perfection…"
Now we see that VIOLA knows the speech by heart, and is
silently mouthing it with the actor.
HENSLOWE
There's a lady knows your play by
heart.
But when he turns to WILL he finds that WILL has gone.
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.
WILL comes into his room, goes straight to his table in
the window, and arranges pen, ink, and paper. Now he has
his ritual: he spins round once in a circle, rubs his
hands together and spits on the floor. Then he sits down,
picks up his pen, and stares in front of him. PAUSE. Then
he begins to write.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE is undressing her, though VIOLA tries
intermittently to push her away. She is still bright with
excitement.
VIOLA
Did you like Proteus or Valentine
best? Proteus for speaking, Valentine
for looks.
NURSE
I liked the dog, for laughs.
VIOLA
But Silvia I did not care for much.
His fingers were red from fighting and
he spoke like a schoolboy at lessons.
Stage ">love will never be true ">love
while the law of the land has our
heroines played by pipsqueak boys in
petticoats! Oh, when can we see
another?
NURSE
When the Queen commands it.
VIOLA
But at the playhouse. Nurse?
NURSE
Be still.
Now the NURSE is cleaning VIOLA'S ears, one by one, of
course. She has an ear-cleaning implement for this. VIOLA
submits.
NURSE (CONT'D)
Playhouses are not for well-born
ladies.
VIOLA
I am not so well-born.
NURSE
Well-monied is the same as well-born
and well-married is more so. Lord
Wessex was looking at you tonight.
VIOLA
All the men at court are without
poetry. If they look at me they see my
father's fortune. I will have poetry
in my life. And adventure. And ">love.
">Love above all.
NURSE
Like Valentine and Silvia?
VIOLA
No . . . not the artful postures of
">love, but ">love that over- throws life.
Unbiddable, ungovernable, like a riot
in the heart, and nothing to be done,
come ruin or rapture. ">Love like there
has never been in a play.
(beat)
I will have ">love or I will end my days
as a . . .
NURSE
As a nurse.
VIOLA
(kissing her)
But I would be Valentine and Silvia
too. Good Nurse, God save you and good
night. I would stay asleep my whole
life if I could dream myself into a
company of players.
VIOLA goes over to the window.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE thrusts a twig to her face.
NURSE
Clean your teeth while you dream,
then.
Automatically, VIOLA takes the twig and begins brushing
her teeth, all the while looking downriver towards the
Rose. The NURSE attends her with a beaker of water, and a
bowl.
NURSE (CONT'D)
Now spit
VIOLA gazes longingly towards the Rose… And, there and
then, she makes a plan.
EXT. SQUARE IN FRONT OF THE ROSE THEATRE. DAY.
HENSLOWE is making his way from the theatre to the market
place when FENNYMAN and LAMBERT appear at either shoulder
and propel him back the way he came. FREES follows
behind.
FENNYMAN
This time we take your boots off!
HENSLOWE
What have I done, Mr. Fennyman?
FENNYMAN
The theatres are all closed by the
plague!
HENSLOWE
Oh, that.
FENNYMAN
by order of the Master of the Revels!
HENSLOWE
Mr. Fennyman, let me explain about the
theatre business.
(they stop)
The natural condition is one of
insurmountable obstacles on the road
to imminent disaster. Believe me, to
be close by the plague is a bagatelle
in the ups and downs of owning a
theatre.
FENNYMAN
So what do we do?
HENSLOWE
Nothing. Strangely enough , it all
turns out well.
FENNYMAN
How?
HENSLOWE
I don't know. It's a mystery.
LAMBERT
(dumbly)
Should I kill him, Mr. Fennyman?
At this point din is heard in the background. a
messenger, ringing a bell, is running though the street.
MESSENGER
The theatres are reopened. By order of
the Master of the Revels, the theatres
are reopened
FENNYMAN is intrigued.
FREES
Mr. Fennyman! Mr. Tilney has opened
the playhouses.
FENNYMAN
Yes I heard.
HENSLOWE plays his temporary advantage modestly,
shrugging himself free of LAMBERT'S grip.
HENSLOWE
(to LAMBERT)
If you wouldn't mind
HENSLOWE continues on his way. FENNYMAN watches HENSLOWE,
curious.
FENNYMAN
Where is the play?
HENSLOWE
Oh, it's coming, it's coming.
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.
It is. WILL is writing furiously. A burnt-down candle is
still alight, although it is day outside the window. He
has been writing all night. He has written about ten
pages. Pleased with himself and excited, he gathers them
up and leaves the room like a man with a mission.
EXT. WILL'S HOUSE. DAY.
Leaving the house, pages in hand, WILL nearly knocks down
HENSLOWE who has come to see him.
HENSLOWE
Will! The theatres are
Before he can finish, WILL brandishes the pages in his
hand.
WILL
Romeo and Rosaline. Scene One! God,
I'm good!
HENSLOWE
Rosaline? You mean Ethel.
WILL has gone.
EXT. BURBAGE'S HOUSE. DAY.
BURBAGE lives in another part of the city. WILL bangs
through the door without ceremony.
WILL
(shouting)
Richard!
INT. BURBAGE'S HOUSE. DAY.
WILL enters and calls out.
WILL
Burbage?
INT. BURBAGE'S BEDROOM. DAY.
WILL charges into the bedroom. ROSALINE is in bed. The
Master of the Revels is pulling up his breeches. WILL is
shattered.
WILL
Mr. Tilney
The unsuccessful snake bracelet glints at him from
ROSALINE'S arm.
TILNEY
Like you, I found him not at home!
WILL
So this is the favour you find in the
Chamberlain's Men.
ROSALINE
Will!
WILL
(to ROSALINE)
I would have made you immortal.
(turning to go)
Tell Burbage he has lost a new play by
Will ;">Shakespeare.
TILNEY
What does Burbage care of that? He is
readying the Curtain for Kit Marlowe.
WILL
You have opened the playhouses?
TILNEY
I have, Master ;">Shakespeare.
WILL
But the plague
TILNEY
(sighs)
Yes, I know. But he was always hanging
around the house.
A bell can be heard ringing outside.
ROSALINE
(to WILL, leaving)
Will…you're the only one, Will!--in my
heart.
EXT. STREET. OUTSIDE BURBAGE'S HOUSE. DAY.
WILL emerges looking distraught. A burning brazier stands
by the wall. WILL thrusts the pages into the coals. He
watches for a moment as the pages catch fire.
INT. TAVERN. DAY.
WILL walks in to find the place in an uproar of
celebration. A handsome young serving man (NOL) is
bumping through with a tray of tankards.
NOL
(excitedly)
Mr. Henslowe!
HENSLOWE
Yes, I heard. The theatres are open.
But where is my playwright?
HENSLOWE finds a seat, and takes a tankard off NOL'S
tray.
HENSLOWE
Chalk it up, Nol. I'm hungry, too.
NOL
The special today is a pig's foot
marinated in juniper-berry vinegar,
served with a buckwheat pancake which
has been
They are interrupted by WILL who joins them. He looks
distracted.
HENSLOWE
Will! Have you finished?
WILL
Yes. Nearly.
(he taps his forehead)
It's all locked safe in here. We need
Ralph for the Pirate King. Good
morning, Master Nol. You will have a
nice little part.
NOL shouts for you, takes off his apron and flings it
behind the bar. HENSLOWE jumps up and embraces WILL. The
entire staff and half the customers are now crowding
around, actors the lot of them. HENSLOWE bangs the table
to shut them all up.
HENSLOWE
Ned Alleyn and the Admiral's Men are
out on tour. I need actors. Those here
who are unknown will have a chance to
be known.
ACTOR
What about the money, Mr. Henslowe?
HENSLOWE
It won't cost you a penny! Auditions
in half-an-hour!
The din of excited chatter returns. He sweeps grandly to
the tavern door…where he meets RALPH BASHFORD, a big,
burly, middle-aged actor.
HENSLOWE (CONT'D)
Ralph Bashford! I'd have a part for
you but, alas, I hear you are a
drunkard's drunkard.
RALPH
Never when I'm working.
INT. TAVERN. DAY.
WILL has remained behind, aghast now at his predicament.
He goes to the bar.
WILL
Give me to drink mandragora.
BARMAN
Straight up, Will?
VOICE
Give my friend a beaker of your best
brandy.
WILL turns towards a figure further down the bar. It's
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE.
WILL
Kit
MARLOWE
How goes it, Will?
WILL
Wonderful, wonderful.
MARLOWE
Burbage says you have a play.
WILL
I have. And chinks to show for it.
His drink arrives. WILL places a sovereign on the bar.
WILL (CONT'D)
I insist--and a beaker for Mr. Marlowe.
The BARMAN does the business.
WILL (CONT'D)
I hear you have a new play for the
Curtain.
MARLOWE
Not new--my Doctor Faustus.
WILL
I ">love your early work. "Was this the
face that launched a thousand ships
and burnt the topless towers of
Ilium?"
MARLOWE
I have a new one nearly done, and
better. The Massacre at Paris.
WILL
Good title.
MARLOWE
And yours?
WILL
Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter.
(beat, sighs despondently)
Yes, I know.
MARLOWE
What is the story?
WILL
Well, there's a pirate
(confesses)
In truth, I have not written a word.
MARLOWE
Romeo is…Italian. Always in and out of
">love.
WILL
Yes, that's good. Until he meets
MARLOWE
Ethel.
WILL
Do you think?
MARLOWE
The daughter of his enemy.
WILL
(thoughtfully)
The daughter of his enemy.
MARLOWE
His best friend is killed in a duel by
Ethel's brother or something. His name
is Mercutio.
WILL
Mercutio…good name.
NOL hurries back to WILL'S side.
NOL
Will--they're waiting for you!
WILL
I'm coming.
He drains his glass.
WILL (CONT'D)
Good luck with yours, Kit.
MARLOWE
I thought your play was for Burbage.
WILL
This is a different one.
MARLOWE
(trying to work it out)
A different one you haven't written?
WILL makes a helpless gesture and hurries after NOL.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. GALLERY/STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
HENSLOWE and WILL are sitting in the gallery, listening
to a YOUNG ACTOR auditioning.
YOUNG ACTOR
" …Was this the face that launched a
thousand ships, And burnt the topless
towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me
immortal with a kiss!"
HENSLOWE
Thank you.
HENSLOWE and WILL look a bit deflated. The YOUNG ACTOR
leaves and is replaced by a SECOND ACTOR.
SECOND ACTOR
I would like to give you something
from Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
HENSLOWE
How refreshing.
SECOND ACTOR
"Was this the face that launched a
thousand ships, And burnt the topless
towers of Ilium?"
HENSLOWE and WILL let him continue a bit further, but
exchange despairing looks. A succession of would-be
actors offer their version of Marlowe's lines, each as
inappropriate as the other. Among them is a small URCHIN.
URCHIN
"…the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet
Helen, make me immortal with a--?"
HENSLOWE
(bellows)
Thank you!
The URCHIN leaves, glowering furiously, and is replaced
by a beanpole of a man (WASBASH). WABASH has a bad
stutter.
WABASH
"W-w-w-w-was th-th-this th-th-the f-f-
f-face…"
HENSLOWE
(unexpectedly)
Very good, Mr. Wabash. Excellent.
Report to the property master.
WILL looks at HENSLOWE in outrage.
HENSLOWE (CONT'D)
(apologetically)
My tailor. Wants to be an actor. I
have a few debts here and there. Well,
that seems to be everybody. Did you
see a Romeo?
WILL
I did not.
HENSLOWE
Well, I to my work, you to yours. When
can I see pages?
WILL
Tomorrow
HENSLOWE leaves him.
WILL (CONT'D)
(a prayer)
please God.
WILL sits brooding alone for a moment. Then he realizes
he is being addressed from the stage. ANOTHER ACTOR.
ACTOR
May I begin, sir?
WILL looks at the stage and sees a handsome young man,
with a hat shadowing his eyes.
WILL
Your name?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Thomas Kent. I would like to do a
speech by a writer who commands the
heart of every player.
WILL can hardly manage a nod.
VIOLA AS THOMAS (CONT'D)
"What light is light, if Silvia be not
seen, What joy is joy, if Silvia be
not by? Unless it be to think that she
is by And feed upon the shadow of
perfection.
It does not take four lines of "VALENTINE'S" speech to
confirm for us, if confirmation be needed, that THOMAS is
VIOLA. For WILL, amazement at hearing his own words soon
gives away to something else. He is captivated. He has
found his "ROMEO".
VIOLA AS THOMAS (CONT'D)
" …except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale.
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon."
WILL interrupts "him."
WILL
Take off your hat.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
My hat?
WILL
Where did you learn how to do that?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
I . . .
WILL
Wait there.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Are you Mr. ;">Shakespeare?
WILL
Let me see you. Take off your hat.
THOMAS begins to panic. WILL jumps down to ground level.
THOMAS runs offstage, to WILL'S bewilderment. WILL
hurries after him. We go with WILL as he crosses the
stage, then backstage, then into the
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. RETIRING ROOM. DAY.
RETIRING ROOM which is crowded with actors and HENSLOWE'S
lieutenant, property manager, copier, and general
factotum who is a new character, PETER.
ACTOR
What are we playing?
NOL
Where are the pages?
WILL enters into the middle of this.
WILL
(shouts)
Where's the boy?
NOBODY knows what he is talking about. WABASH, the
stutterer, grabs Will's hand and shakes it excitedly.
WABASH
B-b-b-b-break a l-l-l-leg!
The street door is swinging shut. WILL sees it. He fights
his way through the men to get to the door.
EXT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BANKSIDE. DAY.
WILL emerges from the theatre into a street throbbing
with nefarious life. Whores, cutpurses, hawkers, urchins,
tract-sellers, riffraff of all kinds in an area of stews
(lowdown pubs), brothels and slums. It is some time
before WILL spots THOMAS, way ahead of him in the crowded
street. The chase is taking them to the riverbank.
EXT. THE RIVER. DAY.
When WILL gets to the riverbank he sees that THOMAS is in
a smallish boat being rowed upriver and in midstream. The
river is quite busy, and among the boats there are a
number of waiting "taxis." WILL jumps into the nearest
one and shouts at the "Taxi Driver" BOATMAN.
WILL
Follow that boat!
BOATMAN
Right you are, governor!
WILL sits in the stern of the boat and the BOATMAN sits
facing him, rowing lustily.
BOATMAN (CONT'D)
I know your face. Are you an actor?
WILL
(oh God, here we go again)
Yes.
BOATMAN
Yes, I've seen you in something. That
one about a king.
WILL
Really?
BOATMAN
I had the Christopher Marlowe in my
boat once.
EXT. THE RIVER. DAY.
LATER. The BOATMAN is puffing. WILL is looking ahead to
where THOMAS'S boat has reached a jetty on the farther
shore, a private jetty attached to a rich house on the
north bank. WILL sees THOMAS jump out of his boat and run
toward the house.
WILL
Do you know that house?
BOATMAN
Sir Robert De Lesseps.
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. DAY.
WILL runs towards the house.
INT. DE LESSEPSES'S HOUSE. DAY.
THOMAS rushes up the back stairs, removing his hat. Her
hair tumbles down about her shoulders, so we will call
her VIOLA again.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. DAY.
Her mother LADY DE LESSEPS, is talking to the NURSE.
LADY DE LESSEPS
Where is she? Our guests are upon us, Lord Wessex too,
bargaining for a bride. My husband will have it settled
tonight.
Behind her, the door opens revealing VIOLA as THOMAS to
the NURSES view, but only for a moment. The door closes
again as LADY DE LESSEPS turns.
LADY DE LESSEPS (CONT'D)
Tomorrow he drags me off to the
country and it will be three weeks
gone before we return from our
estates.
A different door communicating to the next room, opens
and VIOLA comes in after a lightning dress change into a
robe. She curtseys to her mother.
VIOLA
God save you, mother.
(to NURSE)
Ho water, nurse.
The NURSE looks at her, round-eyed.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. KITCHEN. DAY.
From a cauldron on the stove, hot water is poured into
two pails, by the a KITCHEN BOY under the NURSE'S
command.
SCULLERY MAID (O.S.)
Thomas Kent, sir? No sir.
WILL (O.S.)
The actor
NURSE
Who asks for him?
WILL has come to the kitchen door with a letter.
WILL
William ;">Shakespeare, actor, poet, and
playwright of the Rose.
The NURSE sends the SCULLERY MAID back to work.
NURSE
Master Kent is…my nephew.
WILL
(giving her the letter)
I will wait.
NURSE
Much god may it do you.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BATHROOM. EVENING.
VIOLA in her bath, reads WILL'S letter. The NURSE is
adding hot water to the tub.
VIOLA
(delighted)
He sees himself in me! Romeo Montague,
a young man of Verona.
NURSE
(unimpressed)
Verona again.
VIOLA
(devouring the letter)
A comedy of quarreling families
reconciled in the discovery of Romeo
to be the very same Capulet cousin
stolen from the cradle and fostered to
manhood by his Montague mother that
was robbed of her own child by the
Pirate King!
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. NIGHT.
WILL waits hopefully. The kitchen door opens and a
SERVANT flings a bucket of dirty water in the general
direction of the gutter. WILL hops nimbly aside and
escapes a soaking.
SERVANT
Be off!
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE is helping VIOLA into her party dress.
NURSE
Your mother, and your father
VIOLA
(gaily)
From tomorrow, away in the country for
three weeks! Is Master ;">Shakespeare not
handsome?
NURSE
He looks well enough for a mountebank.
VIOLA
Oh, Nurse! He would give Thomas Kent
the life of Viola De Lesseps's
dreaming.
NURSE
(firmly)
My lady, this play will end badly. I
will tell.
VIOLA
(twice as firmly)
You will not tell. As you ">love me and
as I ">love you, you will bind my breast
and buy me a boy's wig!
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. NIGHT.
WILL spots a gaggle of MUSICIANS approaching, carrying
instruments. WILL recognizes them.
WILL
Master Plum! What business here?
MUSICIAN
A five shilling business, Will. We
play for the dancing.
The sound of hooves gives hardly any warning as a
GALLOPING HORSEMAN thunders through the MUSICIANS who
have to leap out of the way. It is WESSEX arriving at the
house, with his usual good manners. Will watches WESSEX
skid to a halt and enter the house.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. BANQUETING ROOM. NIGHT.
WILL has got in with the MUSICIANS. Competently enough he
strums along with them on the bandstand. Two dozen guests
are enough to crowd the space for dancing. WILL glances
around, looking for THOMAS KENT. He stops a passing
SERVANT, helping himself to a snack off the man's tray.
SERVANT
Musicians don't eat, Sir Robert's
orders.
WILL
I seek Master Thomas Kent.
It means nothing to the SERVANT who moves on. ANGLE ON
WESSEX and SIR ROBERT.
SIR ROBERT
She is a beauty, my lord, as would
take a king to church for a dowry of a
nutmeg.
WESSEX
My plantations in Virginia are not
mortgaged for a nutmeg. I have an
ancient name that will bring you
preferment when your grandson is a
Wessex. Is she fertile?
SIR ROBERT
She will breed. If she do not, send
her back.
WESSEX
Is she obedient?
SIR ROBERT
As any mule in Christendom. But if you
are the man to rider her, their are
rubies in the saddlebag.
WESSEX
I like her.
ANGLE on WILL--watching the dancing. Then he sees VIOLA in
the crowd. He turns to blood.
">Love at first sight, no doubt about it. VIOLA has not
seen him. She is doing a daughter's duty among her
parents' friends. The guests form up to begin a changing-
partners dance (the very same one you get in every ROMEO
and JULIET).
WILL
(to Musician)
By all the stars in heaven, who is
she?
MUSICIAN
Viola de Lesseps. Dream on, Will.
WILL leaves the bandstand and is moving trancelike to
keep her in view between the dancers and onlookers. VIOLA
moves through patterns of the dance until…as night
follows day, she finds WILL opposite her. He has
insinuated himself into the dance. VIOLA gasps.
VIOLA
Master ;">Shakespeare
WILL reacts, surprised by her reaction. The dance
separates them. VIOLA finds herself opposite WESSEX.
WESSEX
My lady Viola.
VIOLA
My lord.
WESSEX
I have spoken with your father.
VIOLA
So my lord? I speak with him every
day.
WESSEX scowls. The dance separates them. VIOLA finds
herself opposite WILL again. WILL stares at her
entranced.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
Good sir… ?
WILL has lost his tongue.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
I heard you are a poet.
WILL nods in his trance and she smiles at him.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
But a poet of no words?
WILL tries to speak but the silver tongue won't work. He
is dumb with adoration. Suddenly WESSEX takes him affably
by the elbow and leads him into an alcove.
WESSEX
(smiling evilly)
"Poet?"
WILL
(coming round form the
anaesthetic and not noticing
the danger)
I was a poet till now, but I have seen
beauty that puts my poems at one with
the talking ravens at the Tower.
To his surprise he finds a lordly dagger at this throat.
WILL (CONT'D)
(startled)
How do I offend, my lord?
WESSEX
By coveting my property. I cannot shed
blood in her house but I will cut your
throat anon. You have a name?
WILL
(gulps)
Christopher Marlowe at your service.
WESSEX shoves him through the nearest door.
VIOLA'S eyes are searching the room for WILL. She finds
WESSEX smiling at her. She looks away.
EXT. DE LESSEPS' GARDEN/VIOLA'S BALCONY. NIGHT
There is a lighted window on the balcony. VIOLA, dressed
for bed, and the NURSE pass across the lighted space.
WILL is in the garden. He sees her. The light in the room
is extinguished. WILL sighs. Then VIOLA comes out onto
the balcony in the moonlight. WILL gasps. He watches her.
VIOLA sighs dreamily.
VIOLA
Romeo, Romeo . . . a young man of
Verona. A comedy. By William
;">Shakespeare.
WILL reckons that's a good enough cue. He comes out of
hiding, and approaches the balcony.
WILL
(whispers)
My lady!
VIOLA
(gasps)
Who is there?
WILL
Will ;">Shakespeare!
The NURSE calls "Madam!" from inside the room.
VIOLA
Anon, good nurse. Anon.
(to WILL)
Master ;">Shakespeare?!
WILL
The same, alas.
VIOLA
Oh but why "alas?"
WILL
A lowly player.
VIOLA
Alas indeed, for I thought you the
highest poet of my esteem and a writer
of plays that capture my heart.
WILL
Oh--I am him too!
The NURSE calls again.
VIOLA
(to NURSE)
Anon, anon!
(to WILL)
I will come again.
She goes inside for a moment.
WILL
(to himself)
Oh, I am fortune's fool, I will be
punished for this!
VIOLA returns. WILL comes forward again.
WILL (CONT'D)
Oh my lady, my ">love!
VIOLA
If they find you here they will kill
you.
WILL
You can bring them with a word.
VIOLA
Oh, not for the world!
The NURSE calls her again: "Madam!"
VIOLA (CONT'D)
Anon, nurse!
But she goes inside. WILL looks around and sees that
there is, as ever a convenient tree. He starts to climb
up toward the balcony. When his head is nearly level, a
soft figure comes once more onto the balcony. WILL pops
his head over the parapet and is face to face with the
NURSE. The NURSE gives a yell. WILL falls out of the
tree.
EXT. DE LEESEPSES' HOUSE. NIGHT.
Male voice shout to each other inside the house, candle
flames appear in different windows, the garden door is
flung open, revealing SIR ROBERT with candelabra in one
hand and sword in the other. By this time WILL is on top
of the garden wall and he drops safely out of sight. He
could have written it better.
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAWN.
WILL is burning the midnight oil--literally and
metaphorically. His quill has already covered a dozen
sheets. He is inspired.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
It is day one. THE COMPANY is on stage. PETER is passing
pages around a bunch of actors. JOHN, JAMES, and NOL are
looking through their pages.
JOHN
"Draw if you be men!
(to JAMES)
Gregory, remember thy washing blow."
NOL
"Part, fools, put up your swords."
WILL is going around pumping hands and slapping
shoulders, flushed with excitement. HENSLOWE is reading
his pages, worried. RALPH BASHFORD is next to him.
HENSLOWE
It starts well, and then it's all long-
faced about some Rosaline. Where's the
comedy, Will. Where's the dog?
(to RALPH)
Do you think it is funny?
RALPH
I was a Pirate King, now I'm a Nurse.
That's funny
WILL pulls HENSLOWE aside.
WILL
We are at least six men short, and
those we have will be overparted,
ranters and stutterers who should be
sent back to the stews. My Romeo has
let me down. I see disaster.
HENSLOWE
We are at least four acts short, Will,
if you are looking for disaster.
WILL as notices a young scruffy thirteen-year-old actor,
the URCHIN we met before.
WILL
Who are you, master?
URCHIN
I am Ethel, sir, the Pirate's
daughter.
WILL
(furiously)
I'll be damned if you are!
And he helps the URCHIN off with a kick. The URCHIN
glowers with resentment. HENSLOWE finds himself face to
face with FENNYMAN.
FENNYMAN
Is it going well?
HENSLOWE
Very well.
FENNYMAN
But nothing is happening.
HENSLOWE
Yes, but very well.
WILL
(shouts)
Gentlemen! Thank you! You are welcome.
FENNYMAN
Who is that?
HENSLOWE
Nobody. The author.
WILL
We are about to embark on a great
voyage.
HENSLOWE
It is customary to make a little
speech on the first day. It does no
harm and authors like it.
WILL
You want to know what parts you are to
receive. All will be settled as we go
That's as far as he gets before there is a dramatic
interruption--the public entrance door is flung open and
SIX MEN make a loud entrance, headed by NED ALLEYN, the
actor, who is a handsome piratical figure with a big
voice and a big sword.
ALLEYN
Huzzah! The Admiral's Men are returned
to the house!
He gets various reactions. HENSLOWE and WILL shout his
name joyfully, some of the actors are friends with the
new group and behave accordingly, others know they are
out of a job. FENNYMAN recovers, or tries to.
FENNYMAN
Who is this?
ALLEYN slaps him aside with his sword.
ALLEYN
(roars)
Silence, you god! I am Hieronimo! I am
Tamburlaine! I am Faustus! I am
Barrabas, the Jew of Malta--of yes,
Master Will, and I am Henry VI. What
is the play, and what is my part?
FENNYMAN is impressed.
FENNYMAN
A moment, sir!
ALLEYN
(roars)
Who are you?
FENNYMAN
(bleating)
I am the money!
ALLEYN
Then you may remain so long as you
remain silent. Pay attention and you
will see how genius creates a legend.
FENNYMAN
(respectfully)
Thank you, sir.
WILL
We are in desperate want of a
Mercutio, Ned, a young nobleman of
Verona
ALLEYN
And the title of this piece?
WILL
Mercutio
HENSLOWE
Is it?
ALLEYN
I will play him!
Half a dozen of the ADMIRAL'S MEN will be given roles in
our play and we meet them and identify them as WILL
enthusiastically shakes hands.
WILL
Mr. Pope! Mr. Phillips! Welcome,
George Bryan! James Armitage!
(and now greeting SAM GOSSE,
the female star of the
Admiral's Men)
Sam! My pretty one! Are you ready to
fall in ">love again?
SAM
(hoarsely)
I am, Master ;">Shakespeare.
WILL
(concerned)
But your voice
(he thrust a hand between
SAM'S legs)
Have they dropped?
SAM
(a girlie voice now)
No, no, a touch of cold only. We
suspect he is lying but WILL has
turned away.
WILL
Master Henslowe, you have your actors.
He leaves, passing by the humbled FENNYMAN.
FENNYMAN
I saw his Tamburlaine, you know.
Wonderful.
WILL
Yes, I saw it.
FENNYMAN
Of course, it was mighty writing.
There is no one like Marlowe
WILL is used to it. He goes.
EXT. RIVERBANK. DAY.
WILL arrives in a hurry at the wharfside, and looks
vainly in the direction of the DE LESSEPSES' house: no
THOMAS.
EXT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE DOOR. DAY.
WILL looks down the alley:--no THOMAS. He turns away. The
URCHIN, the short-lived Ethel, is sitting in the alley.
WILL
Better fortune, boy.
URCHIN
(shrugs)
I was in a play. They cut my head off
in Titus Andronicus. When I write
plays, they will be like Titus.
WILL
(pleased)
You admire it?
The URCHIN nods grimly.
URCHIN
I like it when they cut heads off. And
the daughter mutilated with knives.
WILL
Oh. What is your name?
URCHIN.
John Webster. Here, kitty, kitty.
Because a stray cat is nearby. The cat show an interest.
The URCHIN passes a white mouse to the cat and watches
the result with sober interest.
URCHIN (CONT'D)
Plenty of blood. That is the only
writing.
WILL backs away, unnerved by the boy.
URCHIN (CONT'D)
Wait, you'll see the cat bites his
head off.
WILL
I have to get back.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
On stage . . . the actors carry their parts.
NOL AS BENVOLIO
"See where he comes. So please you step aside; I'll know
his grievance or be much denied."
MONTAGUE
"I would thou wert so happy by thy
stay To hear true shrift. Come, madam,
let's away."
Onstage "MONTAGUE" and "LADY MONTAGUE" make their exit.
Offstage, WILL appears next to HENSLOWE.
WILL
Cut round him for now.
HENSLOWE
(not understanding)
What? Who?
WILL
Romeo.
HENSLOWE
The one who came with your letter?
WILL
What?
NOL AS BENVOLIO (O.S.)
"Good morrow, cousin."
VIOLA AS ROMEO (O.S.)
"Is the day so young?"
The voice is THOMAS'S. WILL turns back to the stage and
sees him. Today THOMAS has a wig as well as his small
mustache.
NOL AS BENVOLIO
"But new struck nine."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Ay me, sad hours seem long. Was that
my father that went hence so fast?"
NOL AS BENVOLIO
It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's
hours?"
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Not having that which, having, makes
them short."
WILL
Good
NOL AS BENVOLIO
"In ">love?"
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Out."
NOL AS BENVOLIO
"Of ">love?"
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Out of her favour where I am in
">love."
WILL
(interrupting)
No, no, no…Don't spend it all at once!
The rehearsal stops.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Yes, sir.
WILL
Do you understand me?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
No, sir.
WILL
He is speaking about a baggage we
never even meet! What will be left in
your purse when he meets his Juliet?
HENSLOWE
Juliet? You mean Ethel.
WILL
(rounding on him)
God's teeth, am I to suffer this
constant stream of interruption?!
(to THOMAS)
What will you do in Act Two when he
meets the ">love of his life?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(timidly--looking through his
few sheets of paper)
I am very sorry, sir, I have not seen
Act Two.
WILL
Of course you have not! I have not
written it!
Alone in the auditorium, FENNYMAN looks and listens,
fascinated. So this is theatre!
WILL (CONT'D)
Go once more!
NED ALLEYN comes out of the wings, frowning over his
manuscript.
ALLEYN
Will…Where is Mercutio?
WILL
(tapping his forehead)
Locked safe in here. I leave the scene
in your safe keeping, Ned, I have a
sonnet to write.
WILL moves back into the wings where HENSLOWE is looking
anxious.
HENSLOWE
A sonnet? You mean a play.
WILL moves on, ignoring him. As he goes, we see that
VIOLA is ">love-struck by him, a riot in the heart.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. STAIRCASE. DAY.
VIOLA still dressed as THOMAS, sonnet in hand, runs up
the stairs to her room. From the other end of the house
WESSEX can be heard ranting.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. HALL. NIGHT.
LORD WESSEX is being kept waiting. The NURSE is bearing
the brunt of his impatience.
WESSEX
Two hours at prayer!
NURSE
Lady Viola is pious, my lord.
WESSEX
Piety is for Sunday! And two hours at
prayer is not piety, it is self-
importance!
NURSE
It would be better that you return
tomorrow, my lord.
WESSEX
It would be better that you tell her
to get off her knees and show some
civility to her six-day lord and
master.
VIOLA opens the door. She has changed hurriedly--too
hurriedly: the effect of her glorious hair falling to her
bare shoulders is spoiled by her mustache. Fortunately,
the NURSE spots her before WESSEX does and by coming
forward to greet her, the NURSE manages to shield Viola
from view, communicate the problem, and announce WESSEX'S
presence, so that by the time the NURSE has passed by
VIOLA and let herself out of the room, the moustache has
disappeared.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
My lady VIOLA.
VIOLA
Lord Wessex. You have been waiting.
WESSEX
I am aware of it, but it is beauty's
privilege.
VIOLA
You flatter, my lord.
WESSEX
No. I have spoken to the Queen.
(pause)
Her majesty's consent is requisite
when a Wessex takes a wife, and once
gained, her consent is her command.
VIOLA
Do you intend to marry, my lord?
WESSEX
Your father should keep you better
informed. He has bought me for you. He
returns from his estates to see us
married two weeks from Saturday.
(pause)
You are allowed to show your pleasure.
VIOLA
I do not ">love you, my lord.
WESSEX
How your mind hops about! Your father
was a shopkeeper, your children will
bear arms, and I will recover my
fortune. That is the only matter under
discussion today. You will like
Virginia.
VIOLA
Virginia?!
WESSEX
Why, yes! My fortune lies in my
plantations. The tobacco weed. I need
four thousand pounds to fit out a ship
and put my investments to work--I fancy
tobacco has a future. We will not stay
there long, three or four years . . .
VIOLA
But why me?
WESSEX
It was your eyes. No, your lips.
He kisses her with more passion than ceremony. VIOLA
recoils, and slaps him.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
Will you defy your father and your
Queen?
VIOLA
The Queen has consented?
WESSEX
She wants to inspect you. At
Greenwich, come Sunday. Be submissive,
modest, grateful and brief.
VIOLA
(forced to submit)
I will do my duty, my lord.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
She is writing to WILL. His letter-poem is on her table.
We can read part of it. "Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day…"
Now we see what VIOLA is writing.
INSERT: "Master Will, poet dearest to my heart, I beseech
you, banish me from yours--I am to marry Lord Wessex-- a
daughter's duty… "
She sheds a romantic, unhappy tear.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
SAM is now "JULIET." The play has evidently reached Act I
Scene 5. We are witnessing the meeting of "ROMEO" and
"JULIET" in a simplified version of the changing-partners
dance we saw at VIOLA'S house. NED ALLEYN is in charge.
ALLEYN
Gentlemen upstage, ladies downstage!
The dance goes wrong. it is THOMAS'S fault.
ALLEYN (CONT'D)
(furious)
Gentlemen upstage! Ladies downstage!
Are you a lady, Mr. Kent?
THOMAS mutters a blushing apology. WILL arrives the
bystanders, clutching fresh pages. He gives these to
PETER. NED ALLEYN sees him and comes over to start an
argument.
WILL
(preempting)
You did not like the speech?
ALLEYN
The speech is excellent.
(he does the first line
impressively)
"Oh, then I see Queen Mab hath been
with you!" Excellent and a good
length. But then he disappears for the
length of a bible.
WILL points significantly at the pages he has given
PETER.
WILL
There you have his duel, a skirmish of
words and swords such as I never
wrote, nor anyone. He dies with such
passion and poetry as your ever heard:
"a plague on both your houses!"
NED nods satisfied and turns back to work. Then he turns
back.
ALLEYN
He dies?
But the author has escaped.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. WRITER'S CORNER. DAY.
Up aloft, WILL has a Writer's Corner where he settle down
to work. We see his private superstition: he spins round
in a circle, rubs his hands together, and spits on the
floor. That done, he picks up his pen.
EXT. STREET. NIGHT.
WILL is charging down a narrow alley, and bumps into
BURBAGE who is emerging from the door of a tavern.
BURBAGE
Will!
WILL is in too much of a hurry to stop. BURBAGE calls
after him.
BURBAGE (CONT'D)
And where are my pages . . .
WILL hurries on.
EXT. RIVERBANK. DUSK.
VIOLA as THOMAS is being rowed across the river. From
behind, in the direction of Bankside, "he" hears
shouting.
WILL
(O.S. shouting)
Did you give her my letter?
VIOLA as THOMAS turns to see WILL some way behind,
following in another boat. She takes a letter from her
coat and holds it aloft.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(calling)
And this for you.
EXT. THE RIVER. VIOLA'S BOAT. NIGHT.
WILL has climbed aboard VIOLA'S boat and is tearing open
the letter. What he reads causes him great pain. He
collapses into the stern seat next to VIOLA.
WILL
Oh, Thomas! She has cut my strings! I
am unmanned, unmended, and unmade,
like a puppet in a box.
BOATMAN
Writer, is he?
WILL turns on him savagely
WILL
Row your boat.
EXT. THE RIVER. VIOLA'S BOAT. NIGHT.
WILL turns back to VIOLA. They have their conversation
intimately, disregarding the lack of intimacy. The
BOATMAN is hardly an arm's length away, but they ignore
him.
WILL
She tells me to keep away. She is to
marry Lord Wessex. What should I do?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
If you ">love her, you must do what she
asks.
WILL
And break her heart and mine?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
It is only ours you can know.
WILL
She loves me, Thomas!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Does she say so?
WILL
No. And yet she does where the ink has
run with tears. Was she weeping when
she gave you this?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
I … Her letter came to me by the
nurse.
WILL
Your aunt?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(catching up)
Yes, my aunt. But perhaps she wept a
little. Tell me how you ">love her,
Will.
WILL
Like a sickness and its cure together.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Yes, like rain and sun, like cold and
heat.
(collecting herself)
Is your lady beautiful? Since I came
to visit from the country, I have not
seen her close. Tell me, is she
beautiful?
WILL
Oh, if I could write the beauty of her
eyes! I was born to look in them and
know myself.
He is looking into VIOLA'S eyes. She holds his look, but
WILL belies his words.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
And her lips?
WILL
Oh, Thomas, her lips! The early
morning rose would wither on the
branch, if it could feel envy!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
And her voice? Like lark song?
WILL
Deeper. Softer. None of your
twittering larks! I would banish
nightingales from her garden before
they interrupt her song.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
She sings too?
WILL
Constantly. Without doubt. And plays
the lute, she has a natural ear. And
her bosom--did I mention her bosom?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(glinting)
What of her bosom?
WILL
Oh Thomas, a pair of pippins! As round
and rare as golden apples!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
I think the lady is wise to keep your
">love at a distance. For what lady
could live up to it close to, when her
eyes and lips and voice may be no more
beautiful than mine? Besides, can a
lady born to wealth and noble marriage
">love happily with a Bankside poet and
player?
WILL
(fervently)
Yes, by God! ">Love knows nothing of
rank or riverbank! It will spark
between a queen and the poor vagabond
who plays the king, and their ">love
should be minded by each, for ">love
denied blights the soul we owe to God!
So tell my lady, William ;">Shakespeare
waits for her in the garden!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
But what of Lord Wessex?
WILL
For one kiss, I would defy a thousand
Wessexes!
The boat scrapes on the jetty of the DE LESSEPSES' house.
The bump throws THOMAS into WILL'S arms. He holds her
round the shoulders. His words have almost unmasked her.
The closeness does the rest. She kisses him on the mouth
and jumps out of the boat.
VIOLA
Oh, Will!
She throws a coin to the BOATMAN and runs towards the
house.
BOATMAN
Thank you, my lady!
WILL
(stunned)
Lady?
BOATMAN
Viola De Lesseps. Known her since she
was this high. Wouldn't deceive a
child.
WILL gets out of the boat.
BOATMAN (CONT'D)
(reaching under his seat)
Strangely enough, I'm a bit of a
writer myself.
The BOATMAN produces his memoirs in manuscript.
BOATMAN (CONT'D)
It wouldn't take you long to read it,
I expect you know all the booksellers
. . .
But WILL has gone.
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' GARDEN. NIGHT.
WILL drops over the wall into the garden and without
hesitation starts climbing up to her balcony.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL comes in through the window, just as VIOLA enters by
the door. They stare at each other across the room.
WILL
Can you ">love a fool?
VIOLA
Can you ">love a player?
They run together and fall into a passionate kiss.
WILL
(springs back)
Wait! You are still a maid and perhaps
as mistook in me as I was mistook in
Thomas Kent.
VIOLA
Answer me only this: are you the
author of the plays of William
;">Shakespeare?
WILL
I am.
VIOLA
Then kiss me again for I am not
mistook.
They run together and fall into a passionate kiss. VIOLA
fumbles with his clothing, he with hers.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
I do not know how to undress a man.
WILL
It is strange to me, too.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE has come to listen. She puts her ear against
the door. Because she hears muffled voices, she looks
startled.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL is half-naked. VIOLA is down to her petticoat, and
chemise. The petticoat comes away. WILL flings it aside.
He takes off her chemise. He is startled to find that she
is tightly bandaged round the bosom. WILL finds the loose
end and spins her naked.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE, drags a chair--a rocker--outside the bedroom
door, and takes up her position. She sits down, keeping
guard. Pretty soon there comes the regular creak of
VIOLA'S bed. The NURSE fans herself furiously with her
little lacy fan. She crosses herself. A CHAMBERMAID comes
along the gallery outside the bedroom door. She is
dusting her way along. The CHAMBERMAID becomes aware of
the regular creaking. She pauses. The NURSE begins to
rock in her chair, keeping time with the creaking from
within. The CHAMBERMAID stares at the NURSE. The NURSE
stares at the CHAMBERMAID.
NURSE
Go to, go to.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT
WILL and VIOLA have finished making ">love, and lie in each
other's arms.
VIOLA
I would not have thought it. There is
something better than a play.
WILL
There is.
VIOLA
Even your play.
WILL
(frowns)
Oh
VIOLA
And that was only my first try.
WILL
Well perhaps better than my first.
(he kisses her again)
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. DAWN.
Dawn is breaking. The sun lacing the severing clouds with
envious streaks.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM. DAWN
The NURSE has fallen asleep in her rocking chair.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. DAWN.
A rooster crows at some distance. VIOLA and WILL are in
bed. She stirs drowsily. VIOLA, coming awake, speaks his
name and he kisses her.
VIOLA
Will
Then he starts to get out of bed.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
You would not leave me?
WILL
I must. Look-- how pale the window.
VIOLA
(pulling him down)
Moonlight!
WILL
No, the morning rooster woke me.
VIOLA
It was the owl--come to bed
She is winning. She kisses him and pulls the bedclothes
around them.
WILL
(giving in)
Oh, let Henslowe wait.
VIOLA
(pausing, pushing him away)
Mr. Henslowe?
WILL
(persisting)
Let him be damned for his pages!
VIOLA
Oh--no, no!
WILL
(kissing her)
There is time. It is still dark.
VIOLA
It is broad day!
(the rooster crows again)
The rooster tells us so!
WILL
It was the owl. Believe me, ">love, it
was the owl.
He kisses her and starts to make ">love to her again. VIOLA
gives him a shove which pushes him onto the floor. She
sits up and pulls on her gown.
VIOLA
You would leave us players without a
scene to read today?!
There's a knock at the door.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE VIOLA'S
BEDROOM/VIOLA'S BEDROOM. DAWN.
The NURSE is knocking. VIOLA comes to the door.
NURSE
My lady, the house is stirring, it is
a new day.
VIOLA looks beautified by the hours that have passed.
VIOLA
It is a new world!
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
The cut is to the middle of a rehearsal. We are coming up
to the moment when "ROMEO" and "JULIET" kiss for the
first time (Act I Scene V) NED ALLEYN is in charge but
WILL is watching. His life has turned perfect.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"…Have not saints lips, and holy
palmers too?"
SAM AS JULIET
"Ay pilgrim, lips that they must use
in prayer."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what
hands to: They pray: grant thou, lest
faith turn to despair."
WILL is in her eye-line. Her eyes flash an intimate
secret look to him.
SAM AS JULIET
"Saints do not move, though grant for
prayer's sake."
And VIOLA misses her cue as a result.
SAM
(prompting her)
It's you.
ALLEYN
(roars)
Suffering cats!
VIOLA guiltily picks up her line.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Then move not, while my prayer's
effect I take."
In character, VIOLA kisses SAM, demurely, but apparently
not demurely enough for WILL, who gives a twitch.
VIOLA AS ROMEO(CONT'D)
"Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin
is purg'd."
SAM AS JULIET
"Then have my lips the sin that they
have took."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Sin from my lips? Oh trespass sweetly
urg'd. Give me my sin again."
VIOLA kisses SAM again. WILL gives a major twitch, which
in fact catapults his body onto the stage. Everybody
looks at him in surprise.
WILL
Yes…yes…er…not quite right…it is more
let me
(as JULIET)
"Then have my lips the sin that they
have took."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
Sin from my lips? Oh trespass sweetly
urg'd. Give me my sin again."
VIOLA kisses WILL. They lose themselves for a fraction of
a moment. As VIOLA withdraws her lips, WILL'S lips are
going for it again.
VIOLA AS ROMEO (CONT'D)
"You kiss by th' book."
ALLEYN
(to Will, sarcastically)
Well! It was lucky you were here! Why
do not I write the rest of your play
while you
WILL
(apologising, retreating)
Yes, yes…continue. Now the Nurse.
Where is Ralph?
RALPH has been ready and waiting.
RALPH AS NURSE
"Madam, your mother craves a word with
you."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"What is her mother?"
RALPH AS NURSE
"Marry bachelor, Her mother is the
lady of the house…"
WILL has retreated to
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
He is behind the curtain now.
RALPH AS NURSE (O.S.)
"…And a good lady, and wise and
virtuous. I nurse her daughter that
you talk'd withal…"
During RALPH'S lines (which are continuous) WILL stands
in the shadow behind the curtain, alone, agitated.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
RALPH AS NURSE
"I tell you, he that can lay hold of her (he makes the
money sign) Shall have the chinks."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Is she a Capulet" Oh dear account. My
life is my foe's debt."
NOL, AS "BENVOLIO," at a party, carrying a goblet, tipsy,
enters the scene.
NOL AS BENVOLIO
(to ROMEO)
"Away, be gone, the sport is at best."
VIOLA, about to make her exit, has her hand holding the
curtain at the gap.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BEHIND THE CURTAIN. DAY.
WILL is kissing her hand.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Ay, so I fear; the more is my
unrest."
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BEHIND THE CURTAIN. DAY.
VIOLA comes through the curtain. WILL and VIOLA kiss,
dangerously--they are in a narrow space, hidden from the
general backstage area.
SAM AS JULIET (O.S.)
"Come hither nurse. What is yond
gentleman?"
VIOLA
(to Will)
Oh let it be night!
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
RALPH AS NURSE
"I know not."
SAM AS JULIET
"Go ask his name--If he be married, My
grave is like to be my wedding bed."
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BEHIND THE CURTAIN. DAY.
"JULIET'S" line bits WILL between the eyes. WILL pulls
away.
VIOLA
Oh, do not go
WILL
I must. I must
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
As WILL races up the ladder to his writer's corner, the
rehearsal can be heard continuing.
RALPH AS NURSE (O.S.)
"His name is Romeo, and a Montague,
The only son of your great enemy."
ALLEYN (O.S.)
(roaring from the audience)
Terrible!
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. WRITER'S CORNER. DAY.
WILL arrives at the top of the building in his writer's
corner. He spins around once in a circle, rubs his hands
together and spits on the floor. His manuscript is all
over the table.
We take a peak at the lines he has already written.
INSERT MANUSCRIPT: "But soft, what light through yonder
window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun."
VIOLA'S VOICE OVER speaks the line.
VIOLA (VO)
"But soft, what light through yonder
window breaks? It is the east and
Juliet is the sun!"
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. EVENING.
VIOLA
(reading)
"Arise fair sun and kill the envious
moon Who is already sick and pale with
grief That thou her maid art far more
fair than she…"
VIOLA is in bed, reading the lines from the manuscript
page. WILL is in bed with her, reading with her.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
Oh, Will!
WILL
Yes, some of it is speakable.
She has to speak through WILL'S kisses, he is nibbling at
her neck and shoulders and she has to bat him away with
the pages.
VIOLA
(continuing reading)
"It is my lady, O it is my ">love! O
that she knew she were!"
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
VIOLA continues the speech, edge-to-edge, now in
rehearsal, with SAM as "JULIET" sighing on the balcony
above her.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"The brightness of her cheek would
shame those stars As daylight doth a
lamp. Her eyes in heaven Would through
the airy region stream so bright That
birds would sing and think it were not
night. See how she leans her cheek
upon her hand. O that I were a glove
upon that hand, That I might touch
that cheek.
SAM AS JULIET
(above)
"Ay me."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"She speaks.
Oh speak again bright angel…"
We have abandoned real time. The scene continues CROSS
CUT between the STAGE and VIOLA'S BED.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. EVENING.
WILL
(reading through VIOLA'S
kisses)
"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou
Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy
name."
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY
SAM AS JULIET
"Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my
">love And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
VIOLA AS ROMEO
(below)
"Shall I hear more or shall I speak at
this?"
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL and VIOLA in bed.
WILL
"What man art thou that thus
bescreen'd in night So stumblest on my
counsel?"
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. NIGHT.
It's become late and the rehearsal is continuing by
torchlight.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"…By a name I know not how to tell
thee who I am: My name, dear saint, is
hateful to myself Because it is an
enemy to thee…"
We see that a group of the other actors have drifted "out
front," drawn by the scene. FENNYMAN is there entranced.
Clearly, this stuff is a cut above the normal.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT
WILL, undressed, strides around the room, feeding
"JULIET'S" lines to VIOLA in bed.
WILL
"The orchard walls are high and hard
to climb, And the place death,
considering who thou art, If any of my
kinsmen find thee here. If they do see
thee, they will murder thee."
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. NIGHT.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Alack, there lies more peril in thine
eye, Than twenty of their swords! Look
thou but sweet, And I am proof against
their enmity."
SAM AS JULIET
I would not for the world!
VIOLA AS ROMEO
I have night's cloak to hide me from
their eyes; And but thou ">love me, let
them find me here.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL and VIOLA are both out of bed, halfway though
dressing. Still rehearsing.
WILL
"Good night, good night. As sweet
repose and rest Come to thy heart as
that within my breast. O wilt thou
leave me so unsatisfied?"
VIOLA
That's my line!
WILL
Oh, but it is mine too!
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. NIGHT.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?"
SAM AS JULIET
"What satisfaction can'st thou have
tonight?"
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"The exchange of thy ">love's faithful
vow for mine."
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL and VIOLA are back on the bed, kissing and making
">love.
WILL
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My ">love as deep:
VIOLA AND WILL
(continuing the speech with
him)
the more I give to thee The more I
have, for both are infinite."
Outside the NURSE is knocking on the door and calling.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
SAM AS JULIET
"I hear some noise within. Dear ">love,
adieu."
RALPH, the Nurse, call's "JULIET!" off stage.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT
VIOLA
(calling to the NURSE who is
outside)
Anon, good Nurse
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
The NURSE listens at the door.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
SAM AS JULIET
"Anon, good Nurse--Sweet Montague be
true."
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
WILL
"Stay but a little, I will come
again."
VIOLA slaps him playfully for his vulgarity, and then
kisses him.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
SAM AS JULIET
"Stay but a little, I will come
again."
SAM leaves the balcony through the curtain.
VIOLA AS ROMEO
"Oh blessed blessed night."
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
It is night. They have just made ">love. Suddenly it is
very still.
VIOLA
(almost to herself)
"I am feared,
Being in night, all this but a dream, Too flattering-
sweet to be substantial."
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
Onstage, the scene continues. Backstage NED ALLEYN is
working his way upstairs. He passes by RALPH (the Nurse)
who has a couple of words "of," as it were, in "JULIET'S"
chamber.
SAM AS JULIET (O.S.)
"…All my fortunes at thy foot I'll
lay, And follow thee my lord
throughout the world."
RALPH AS NURSE
"Madam!"
SAM AS JULIET (O.S.)
"I come, anon--But if thou meanest not
well, I do beseech thee--"
RALPH AS NURSE
"Madam!"
SAM AS JULIET (O.S.)
By and by I come to cease thy strife
and leave me to my grief. A thousand
times good night!"
SAM exits (i.e. enters to us) through the curtain.
SAM
(to NED)
I cannot move in this dress! and it
makes me look like a pig! I have no
neck in this pig dress!
(and then hearing his cue
from "ROMEO")
Oh, she's off again! She says she's
going and then she doesn't
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. WRITER'S CORNER. DAY.
NED is arriving. WILL is busy writing. PETER is there,
holding the pages WILL has completed, and waiting for
WILL to finish his page. PETER is reading his pages. WILL
sees NED arrive. He gives his page to PETER.
WILL
(to PETER)
How is it?
PETER
(shrugs)
It's all right.
Typical!, says WILL'S face. Peter departs, leaving the
field to NED. WILL braces himself.
WILL
Ned…I know…I know
ALLEYN
It's good.
WILL
Oh
ALLEYN
The title won't do.
WILL
Ah
ALLEYN
Romeo and Juliet--just a suggestion.
WILL
Thank you, Ned.
The whole exchange is in ironic code, between old
soldiers. NED nods curtly and turns to descend.
WILL (CONT'D)
You are a gentleman.
ALLEYN
And you are a Warwickshire shit-house.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
PETER is just handing the pages HENSLOWE in the
auditorium. HENSLOWE has acquired a performing dog. The
dog does somersaults tirelessly. As PETER hands over the
pages, he shakes his head.
HENSLOWE
(in disbelief)
You mean, no dog of any kind?
FENNYMAN, the born-again theatre groupie shushes HENSLOWE
and looks daggers at him.
PETER
(to HENSLOWE)
The Friar married them in secret, then
Ned gets into a fight with one of the
Capulets, Romeo tries to stop them, he
gets in Ned's way, I mean in
Mercutio's way, so Tybalt kills
Mercutio and then Romeo kills Tybalt.
Then the Prince banishes him from
Verona.
HENSLOWE
(much relieved)
That must be when he goes on the
voyage and gets shipwrecked on the
island of the Pirate King.
FENNYMAN can't hear it. He storms over. Kicks the dog,
roars at HENSLOWE .
FENNYMAN
Cease your prattling! Get out!
(to the stage where the
action has paused)
A thousand apologies!
SAM AS JULIET
"Good night, good night. Parting is
such sweet sorrow That I shall say
good night till it be morrow."
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. MORNING.
A sunbeam wakes the lovers. Sunday morning. Church bells.
VIOLA wakes with a start. Something is bothering her, she
can't think what. WILL calms her.
WILL
Sunday…it is Sunday.
He brings her back down to the pillow.
WILL (CONT'D)
I found something in my sleep. The
Friar who married them will take up
their destinies.
VIOLA
Oh, but it will end well for ">love?
WILL
In heaven, perhaps. It is not a comedy
I am writing now. A broad river
divides my lovers--family, duty,
fate--as unchangeable as nature.
VIOLA
(sobered)
Yes, this is not life, Will. This is a
stolen season.
Suddenly there is a great racket heard from downstairs…a
man shouting.
WESSEX (O.S.)
Not ready? Where is she?
NURSE (O.S.)
Be patient, my lord, she is dressing.
WESSEX (O.S.)
Will you ask Her Majesty to be
patient?!
VIOLA remembers. She jumps up and gives a cry.
VIOLA
Sunday! Greenwich!
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM.
MORNING.
The NURSE is barring the stairs to WESSEX.
WESSEX
Now, pay attention, Nursy. The Queen,
Gloriana Regina, God's Chosen Vessel,
the Radiant One, who shines her light
on us, is at Greenwich today, and
prepared, during the evening's
festivities, to bestow her gracious
favour on my choice of wife--and if
we're late for lunch, the old boot
will not forgive. So you get you to my
lady's chamber and produce her with or
without her undergarments.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. MORNING.
VIOLA has her dress on and is putting on her shoes. WILL,
in his underwear is in mid-argument.
WILL
You cannot! Not for the Queen herself!
VIOLA
What will you have me do? Marry you
instead?
WILL
(brought up short)
To be the wife of a poor player?--can I
wish that for Lady Viola, except in my
dreams? And yet I would, if I were
free to follow my desire in the harsh
light of day.
VIOLA
(tartly)
You follow your desire freely enough
in the night. So, if that is all, to
Greenwich I go.
WILL
Then I will go with you.
VIOLA
You cannot, Wessex will kill you
WILL
I know how to fight!
VIOLA
(now fixing her hair)
Stage fighting!
(turn to him)
Oh, Will! As Thomas Kent my heart
belongs to you but as Viola the river
divides us, and I will marry Wessex a
week from Saturday.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. OUTSIDE VIOLA'S BEDROOM
DOWNSTAIRS HALL. MORNING.
The ranting from WESSEX has continued
WESSEX
(ranting)
By heaven, I will drag her down, by
the Queen's command
And is cut off short as VIOLA'S door opens at the top of
the stairs.
VIOLA
Good morning, my lord!
WESSEX
(impressed by her appearance)
Ah! My lady! The tide waits for no
man, but I swear it would wait for
you!
VIOLA comes down the stairs. Behind her WILL appears
gowned and bonneted. He has also assumed a country
accent.
WILL
Here we come at last, my lord!
WESSEX
(taken aback)
Are you bringing your laundry woman?
WILL
Her chaperone. My lady's country
cousin.
(arriving with a curtsey)
My, but you be a handsome gallant,
just as she said! You may call me Miss
Wilhelmina!
WESSEX
On a more fortuitous occasion, perhaps
WILL
Oh, my lord, you will not shake me
off, she never needed me more, I sear
by your breeches!
EXT. GREENWICH PALACE. NIGHT.
Fireworks explode in the evening sky over Greenwich, a
royal palace, crowded now with noble guests.
EXT. GREENWICH PALACE. TERRACE. NIGHT.
The way these royal routs work is that guest mill about,
chatting, bowing and generally behaving gallantly, while
QUEEN ELIZABETH creates a vortex around her as she passes
through the throng, occasionally honouring somebody with
a couple of words, until she arrives thankfully at the
best chair…where she establishes a headquarters. Her
current LORD IN WAITING ferries the lucky few forward to
a brief audience with the QUEEN, each giving way to the
next. VIOLA and WESSEX are, respectively, dipping and
bowing as they are greeted by people who know them…Will,
in close attendance, joins in gratuitously, bowing until
VIOLA nudges him and reminds him to curtsey instead. The
QUEEN'S LORD IN WAITING plucks WESSEX'S sleeve.
WESSEX
(to him)
Now?
LORD IN WAITING
Now.
WESSEX
(to Viola)
The Queen asks for you. Answer well.
The LORD IN WAITING ushers VIOLA through the crowd. WILL
starts to follow. WESSEX takes him by the arm.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
Is there a man?
WILL
A man, my lord?
WESSEX
(impatiently)
There was a man, poet--a theatre poet,
I heard--does he come to the house?
WILL
A theatre poet?
WESSEX
An insolent penny-a-page rogue,
Marlowe, he said, Christopher
Marlowe--has he been to the house?
WILL
Marlowe? Oh yes, he is the one, lovely
waistcoat, shame about the poetry.
WESSEX
(venomously)
That dog!
ANGLE on the QUEEN.
The LORD IN WAITING has presented VIOLA. VIOLA speaks
from a frozen curtsey.
VIOLA
Your Majesty.
QUEEN
Stand up straight, girl.
VIOLA straightens. The QUEEN examines her.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
I have seen you. You are the one who
comes to all the plays--at Whitehall,
at Richmond.
VIOLA
(agreeing)
Your Majesty.
QUEEN
What do you ">love so much?
VIOLA
Your Majesty
QUEEN
Speak out! I know who I am. Do you
">love stories of kings and queens?
Feats of arms? Or is it courtly ">love?
VIOLA
I ">love theatre. To have stories acted
for me by a company of fellows is
indeed
QUEEN
(interrupting)
They are not acted for you, they are
acted for me.
VIOLA remains silent, in apology.
ANGLE on WILL.
He is watching and listening. He has never seen the QUEEN
so close. He is fascinated.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
And--?
VIOLA
And I ">love poetry above all.
QUEEN
Above Lord Wessex?
She looks over VIOLA'S shoulder and VIOLA realises WESSEX
has moved up behind her. WESSEX bows.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
(to WESSEX)
My Lord--when you cannot find your wife
you had better look for her at the
playhouse.
The COURTIERS titter at her pleasantry.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
But playwrights teach nothing about
">love, they make it pretty, they make
it comical, or they make it lust. They
cannot make it true.
VIOLA
(blurts)
Oh, but they can!
She has forgotten herself. The COURTIERS gasp. The QUEEN
considers her. WESSEX looks furious. WILL is touched.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
I mean…Your Majesty, they do not, they
have not, but I believe there is one
who can
WESSEX
Lady Viola is…young in the world. Your
Majesty is wise in it.
Nature and truth are the very enemies
of playacting. I'll wager my fortune.
QUEEN
I thought you were here because you
had none.
Titters again. WESSEX could kill somebody.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
(by way of dismissing him)
Well, no one will take your wager, it
seems.
WILL
Fifty pounds!
Shock and horror. QUEEN ELIZABETH is the only person
amused.
QUEEN
Fifty pounds! A very worthy sum on a
very worthy question. Can a play show
us the very truth and nature of ">love?
I bear witness to the wager, and will
be the judge of it as occasion arises.
(which wins a scatter of
applause. She gathers her
skirts and stands)
I have not seen anything to settle it
yet.
(she moves away, everybody
bowing and scraping)
So--the fireworks will be soothing
after the excitements of Lady Viola's
audience.
(and now she is next to
WESSEX who is bowing low.
Intimately to him)
Have her then, but you are a lordly
fool. She has been plucked since I saw
her last, and not by you. It takes a
woman to know it.
The QUEEN passes by, and as WESSEX comes vertical again,
we see his face a mask of furious realisation.
WESSEX
(to himself)
Marlowe!
INT. BURBAGE'S HOUSE. ENTRANCE. DAY.
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE shuts the door behind him. Above him,
the ceiling creaks to the rhythm of copulation. He has a
sheaf of manuscript pages in his hand. He goes to the
stairs.
MARLOWE
Burbage!
The creaking stops.
BURBAGE'S VOICE
Who's there?
INT. BURBAGE'S HOUSE. STAIRS. DAY.
MARLOWE ascends.
MARLOWE
Marlowe.
BURBAGE'S VOICE
Kit!
INT. BURBAGE'S HOUSE. BEDROOM. DAY.
MARLOWE enters, ignoring the situation on the bed where
ROSALINE is astride BURBAGE.
MARLOWE
You are playing my Faustus this
afternoon. Don't spend yourself in
sport.
ROSALINE
(working hard)
This afternoon!--we'll still be here
this afternoon.
BURBAGE
What do you want, Kit?
MARLOWE
My Massacre at Paris is complete.
BURBAGE
You have the last act?
MARLOWE
You have the money?
BURBAGE
Tomorrow.
MARLOWE
(leaving)
Then tomorrow you will have the pages.
BURBAGE
Wait!
(to ROSALINE)
Will you desist!
MARLOWE
Twenty pounds on delivery
BURBAGE
What is money to me like us? Besides,
if I need a play, I have another
waiting, a comedy by ;">Shakespeare.
MARLOWE
Romeo?--he gave it to Henslowe.
BURBAGE
Never!
MARLOWE
Well, I am to Deptford now, I leave my
respects, Miss Rosaline.
BURBAGE
I gave ;">Shakespeare two sovereigns for
Romeo!
MARLOWE
(leaving)
You did. But Ned Alleyn and the
Admiral's Men have the playing of it
as the Rose.
BURBAGE
Treachery!
BURBAGE rouses himself violently, throwing ROSALINE off
the bed. The glass bracelet is flung from her wrist. It
breaks on the floor, releasing a strip of paper. BURBAGE
picks it up. What he reads on it does not please him: it
is WILL'S signature.
BURBAGE (CONT'D)
Traitor and thief!
EXT. STREETS. DAY.
BURBAGE and a solid wedge of the CHAMBERLAIN'S MEND are
cleaving a path through the crowds. Their faces are grim.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM/UNDER THE STAGE.
DAY.
We are in Act III Scene I. NED ALLEYN as "MERCUTIO" and
NOL as "BENVOLIO", and two "MONTAGUE" sidekicks are in
occupation of the stage, when the "CAPULETS" swagger in,
four of them headed by JAMES HEMMINGS as "TYBALT."
NOL AS BENVOLIO
"By my head, here comes the Capulets."
ALLEYN AS MERCUTIO
"By my heel, I care not."
JAMES HEMMINGS AS TYBALT
"Follow me close, for I will speak to
them. (with bombast to "MERCUTIO")
Gentlemen, good e'en: a word with one
of you."
NED comes out of character.
ALLEYN
Are you going to do it like that? And
before the humbled actor can reply NED
continues.
ALLEYN (AS MECUTIO)
And but one word with one of us?
Couple it with something, make it a
word and a blow.
But suddenly six more men and a dog invade the stage,
ready to fight. BURBAGE and the CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN have
arrived to avenge BURBAGE'S honour with swords, clubs,
and a bucket (containing pig swill).
BURBAGE
Where is that thieving hack who can't
keep his pen in his own ink pot!?
WILL has already leapt up onto the stage.
WILL
What is this rabble?!
BURBAGE aims a blow at WILL, who ducks and grabs a stave
from the nearest actor, and parries the blow.
He swings at BURBAGE, a CHAMBERLAIN'S MAN swings at WILL,
THOMAS cries out, someone else slashes the stage hangings
bringing down the drapes, and in a moment the ADMIRAL'S
MEN and the CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN, using their much rehearsed
skills, are brawling with weapons and fist, using
everything short of unbuttoned rapiers. CRAB, the dog, is
yapping and snapping at any legs he can reach. HENSLOWE,
a little slow to catch up on the situation, checks the
page in his hand. FENNYMAN, much slower to catch up,
watches enthralled.
FENNYMAN
(to HENSLOWE)
Wonderful, wonderful! And a dog!
But now HENSLOWE has worked out that these actors don't
belong, nor does the scene. he enters the fray, but his
interest is protecting his property. Big burly RALPH is
using a couple of unlit torches as weapons; he breaks one
of them over an enemy's back and HENSLOWE turns on RALPH
HENSLOWE
Not with my props!
VIOLA is doing well enough, tripping up an enemy with a
well-judged stave, and then using it to deflect a blow
aimed at WILL
VIOLA
Will! What--?
WILL
A literary feud. Quite normal.
Then he is smashed over the head. He falls off the stage
taking VIOLA with him. Under the stage is a space (known
as Hell) and WILL shoves VIOLA into this space.
WILL (CONT'D)
Stay hid!
He gets back onto the stage, where the goings on are
worthy of the Four Musketeers and Robin Hood combined,
with SAM GOSSE, dressed as "JULIET," fighting with the
best of them. There is a stack of cushions, stored for
the expensive seats, and as the stack s knocked over, NED
ALLEYN and others grab cushions to use as shields. Soon
cushions are being ripped, and the air is full of flying
feathers. The trap door in the stage opens, VIOLA'S head
pops up. She looks around and, surrounded by milling legs
and floating feathers, a boot catches her sideways and
half knocks her wig off. In danger of having her cover
blown, she ducks down again, leaving the trap open just
nicely for Will to plummet down it.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. UNDER THE STAGE. DAY.
WILL
I dreamed last night of a shipwreck.
You were cast ashore in a far country.
They embrace and kiss. In a moment they are in a world of
their own.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. UNDER THE STAGE. DAY.
The battle rages. FENNYMAN, alone now in the auditorium,
continues to watch entranced. It's the greatest show he's
ever seen. HENSLOWE is desperately trying to rescue odd
props that have been seconded to the fight. Someone picks
up a tree that is to be used in Romeo. HENSLOWE yells.
HENSLOWE
We need that for the balcony scene!
FENNYMAN notices this, and it rings a distant bell. He
looks around the realises that some of these faces are
unfamiliar. The tree comes crashing down on RALPH'S head.
FENNYMAN looks at HENSLOWE.
HENSLOWE (CONT'D)
(in despair)
My poor Rose!
He collapses on to a broken bench. FENNYMAN comes over to
him, grabs the script pages from his pocket, and consults
them to confirm what he has now begun to suspect: that
this scene is not in them.
FENNYMAN
(horrified)
My investment! LAMBERT!!!
LAMBERT has been sleeping peacefully through this, but
wakes to his master's call.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
(points at the fray)
VENGEANCE!
HENSLOWE attempts to intervene.
HENSLOWE
I want no more trouble, Mr. Fennyman.
As I explained to you, the theatre
business
FENNYMAN
Henslowe, you pound of tripe, in my
business I would be out of business if
I had your courage, so don't tell me
about business
And he delivers a telling blow to a passing CHAMBERLAIN'S
MAN, who wheels off the stage. LAMBERT meanwhile is
making short work of the rest of the opposition,
receiving help with the thorny business of identification
from SAM. Stray members of the CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN are
running from the theatre, as BURBAGE, fighting a heroic
last stand, is tipped backwards by FENNYMAN off the stage
and into a bucket of swill. A PAUSE. Then NED starts
applauding. The others, weary from fighting, start
applauding too, from all levels of the theatre. FENNYMAN
looks around, starting to beam, as a din of encores and
bravos engulf him. A star!
INT. BROTHEL. NIGHT.
The victorious army of actors bursts into the brothel,
FENNYMAN at their head. He owns the brothel. The place is
already crowded with WHORES and CUSTOMERS. It's a party.
FENNYMAN
(shouts)
A famous victory! Kegs and legs. Open
and on the house! Oh what happy hour!
(and grabbing a RADDLED
WHORE)
Poxy Pol! You keep yourself to
yourself I'll not have you infecting
my investment!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(looking around guardedly. To
WILL)
Is this a tavern?
WILL
It is also a tavern.
WILL sits her down in THE COMPANY and takes the chair
next to her A PRETTY WHORE immediately sits on WILL'S
knee and kisses him.
PRETTY WHORE
I remember you! The poet!
VIOLA furiously pulls the PRETTY WHORE off WILL'S lap.
PRETTY WHORE (CONT'D)
One at a time, one at a time!
SECOND WHORE
(to VIOLA)
Oh, he's a pretty one! Tell me your
story while I tickle your fancy!
VIOLA AS THOMAS
Oh!--it's--it's--oh, it's a house of ill-
repute!
WILL
It is, Thomas, but of good reputation.
Come, there is no harm in a drink.
Glasses are shoved into their hands. Everyone has a
glass. Except RALPH
RALPH
(declining the glass)
Never when I'm working!
The PRETTY WHORE has turned her attention to SAM. SAM
looks uncomfortable
PRETTY WHORE
Never tried it? Never?
(groping him)
I think you are ready, Sam!
FENNYMAN shouts a toast.
FENNYMAN
(raising his glass)
You are welcome to my best house!
Here's to the Admiral's Men!
Everybody drinks. VIOLA drinks too. She decides too. She
decides to enjoy it. She bangs down her glass.
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(shouts)
The Admiral's Men!
WILL toasts with her. He sees that she feels one of THE
COMPANY.
EXT. STREET. NIGHT.
A figure is running desperately through the streets. He
comes into the square and runs towards the Rose.
EXT. BROTHEL. NIGHT.
Half THE COMPANY are singing. NOL and a WHORE are
tumbling down the stairs together. He is without his
trousers. An awful lot of drink has gone down.
SAM
(to the PRETTIEST WHORE)
I…quite liked it.
VIOLA, bright eyed, is banging her glass on the table in
time to a song which is being drunkenly delivered by a
barbershop quartet of actors.
FENNYMAN reels into VIOLA.
FENNYMAN
Master Kent! You have not dipped your
wick?
VIOLA AS THOMAS
(baffled)
My wick?
WILL
(saving her)
Mr. Fennyman, because you ">love the
theatre you must have a part in my
play. I am writing an Apothecary, a
small but vital role.
FENNYMAN
(embracing WILL)
By heaven, I thank you! I will be your
Apothecary!
In his general enthusiasm, he embraces the next man, who
is RALPH, stone cold sober.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
I am to be in your play.
WHORE
(to RALPH)
And what is this play about?
RALPH
Well, there's this Nurse
FENNYMAN, beside himself, shouts for silence, announcing
FENNYMAN
Mr. ;">Shakespeare has given me the part
of the Apothecary!
HENSLOWE
The Apothecary? Will, what is the
story? Where is the shipwreck? How
does the comedy end?
WILL
By God, I wish I knew.
HENSLOWE
By God, Will, if you do not, who does?
Let us have pirates, clowns, and a
happy ending, or we will send you back
to Stratford to your wife!
That goes down every well with the entire COMPANY…except
for VIOLA and WILL. He looks at her, helplessly, then
makes as if to say something. VIOLA ducks away from him
and blunders blindly out of the street door, in tears.
VIOLA passes PETER who is coming in from the street.
WILL, attempting to follow VIOLA, is grabbed round the
shoulders by PETER…who, we now see, is in a highly
emotional state. WILL tries to fight him off but PETER
has the strength of the news he brings.
PETER
(shouts)
Will! Mr. Henslowe! Gentlemen all!
He brings the room to silence.
PETER (CONT'D)
A black day for us all! There is news
come up river from Deptford. Marlowe
is dead.
There are general gasps and cries for information.
PETER (CONT'D)
Stabbed! Stabbed to death in a tavern
at Deptford!
No one is more affected than WILL. This second blow is
worse than the first. He stands horror-stricken.
WILL
Oh…what have I done?
ALLEYN
(standing up)
He was the first man among us. A great
light has gone out.
EXT. BROTHEL. NIGHT.
WILL comes staggering out into the street.
WILL
It was I who killed him! God forgive
me, God forgive me!
He falls into a stagnant puddle, a deep gutter of water
and garbage. He gets up and staggers on.
EXT. CHURCH TOWER. NIGHT.
A church tower looms up in the night sky.
INT. CHURCH. NIGHT.
This is where WILL has come. The church is empty, but for
the demented, grieving figure of ;">SHAKESPEARE, kneeling,
praying, weeping, banging his head, in his private
purgatory, dimly lit by tallow candles, gazed upon by
effigies of the dead and images of his Redeemer. He is
wet, bedraggled, weeds and leaves in his hair.
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. DAY.
A lovely sunny morning. The church bells are ringing.
VIOLA and the NURSE, mounted, approach. VIOLA rides
sidesaddle on a beautiful horse, and is followed, rather
like Quixote by Sancho, by the NURSE on a less impressive
animal.
Riding in the opposite direction, is WESSEX. And what a
happy day it is. He sings and hums to himself merrily.
Here is a man who has heard wonderful news. He sees VIOLA
and greets her merrily.
WESSEX
You look sad, my lady! Let me take you
riding.
VIOLA
It is not my riding day, my lord.
WESSEX
Bless me, I thought it was a horse.
VIOLA
I am going to church.
WESSEX
(recomposing his features to
solemnity)
I understand of course. It is to be
expected.
VIOLA
It is to be expected on a Sunday.
WESSEX
And on a day of mourning. I never met
the fellow but once at your house.
VIOLA
(cannot take this in)
Mourning? Who is dead, my lord?
WESSEX
Oh!--dear God, I did not think it would
be me to tell you. A great loss to
playwriting, and to dancing.
VIOLA almost faints. The NURSE steadies her.
VIOLA
(faintly)
He is dead?
WESSEX
(cheerfully solemn)
Killed last night, in a tavern! Come,
then, we'll say a prayer for his soul
VIOLA gives a silent cry. The NURSE is speaking to her in
distress.
NURSE
My lady…my lady…now is the time to
show your breeding.
INT. CHURCH. DAY.
The NURSE is holding VIOLA up as they enter the church.
VIOLA seems catatonic. The NURSE lowers her onto a seat
and sits down next to her.
As they sit, the CHOIR enters singing. WESSEX, who is
sitting in the next pew, looks about him with interest.
He hasn't been in a church for years. What he sees turns
him to jelly. He sees WILL ;">SHAKESPEARE.
ANGLE on WILL.
WILL is a spectral, bedraggled figure, backlit by a great
shaft of light, he would look like a ghost at the best of
times, and this is the worst. Bleeding from where he has
banged his head, bedraggled and ravaged by the night, he
stands in a side chapel staring at WESSEX.
WESSEX gasps and sweats, and sees WILL raise a quivering
accusatory finger at him. WESSEX cracks. He starts to
mumble.
WESSEX
Oh, spare me, dear ghost, spare me for
the ">love of Christ!
Now VIOLA sees WILL. She is still paralysed, and seems at
first unable to take him in. She watches with detachment
as WESSEX starts to back out of the church, finally
running in terror.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
(screaming)
Spare me!
The CHOIR continues to sing, but the scream brings VIOLA
to her senses and she runs to a side door where WILL is
leaving.
EXT. CHURCH. DAY.
Outside, VIOLA sees WILL, staggering away from the
church. She calls his name.
VIOLA
Will!
He does not answer. She runs after him.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
Oh, my ">love, I thought you were dead!
She claps him to her. They told each other for a moment
then WILL pulls back.
WILL
It is worse. I have killed a man.
EXT. MEADOW. DAY.
VIOLA'S horse grazes. WILL lies on his back, still
sobered and full of guilt. VIOLA sits on the grass among
the buttercups and looks down at him.
VIOLA is plaiting a finger-ring from stems of grass. She
has not yet revealed her feelings.
WILL
Marlowe's touch was in my Titus
Andronicus and my Henry VI was a house
built on his foundations.
VIOLA
You never spoke so well of him.
WILL
He was not dead before. I would
exchange all my plays to come for all
of his that will never come.
VIOLA
You lie.
WILL turns to look at her.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
You lie in your meadow as you lied in
my bed.
WILL
My ">love is no lie. I have a wife, yes,
and I cannot marry the daughter of Sir
Robert de Lesseps. It needed no wife
come from Stratford to tell you that.
And yet you let me come to your bed.
VIOLA
Calf ">love. I loved the writer, and
gave up the prize for a sonnet.
WILL
I was the more deceived.
VOILA
Yes--you were deceived. For I never
loved you till now.
WILL
Now?
VIOLA
(declaring herself)
I ">love you, Will, beyond poetry.
WILL
Oh, my ">love
(he kisses her)
You ran from me before.
VIOLA
You were not dead before. When I
thought you dead, I did not care about
all the plays that will never come,
only that I would never see your face.
I saw our end, and it will come.
WILL
You cannot marry Wessex!
VIOLA
If not Wessex the Queen will know the
cause and there will be no more Will
;">Shakespeare.
They kiss again, passionately.
WILL
No…no.
VIOLA
(through his kisses)
But I will go to Wessex as a widow
from these vows, as solemn as they are
unsanctified.
And as their desperate kisses turn into lovemaking we cut
to:
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
WILL
(he is mid speech)
For killing Juliet's kinsman Tybalt,
the one who killed Romeo's friend
Mercutio, Romeo is banished
He is on the stage of the Rose. The entire COMPANY is
assembled, HENSLOWE and FENNYMAN included, holding pages
of manuscript, which they are sharing together, examining
the separated pages, passing pages to each other, etc.
WILL'S mood is intense and focused.
WILL (CONT'D)
but the Friar who married Romeo and
Juliet
ACTOR (EDWARD)
Is that me. Will?
WILL
You, Edward. The Friar who married
them gives Juliet a potion to drink.
It is a secret potion. It makes her
seeming dead. She is placed in the
tomb of the Capulets. She will awake
to life and ">love when Romeo comes to
her side again.
THE COMPANY murmurs approval.
WILL (CONT'D)
I have not said all. By malign fate,
the message goes astray which would
tell Romeo of the Friar's plan. He
hears only that Juliet is dead. And
thus he goes to the Apothecary.
FENNYMAN
That's me.
WILL
And buys a deadly poison. He enters
the tomb to say farewell to Juliet who
lies there cold as death. He drinks
the poison. He dies by her side. And
then she wakes and sees him dead.
HENSLOWE is fascinated and appalled.
WILL (CONT'D)
And so Juliet takes his dagger and
kills herself.
PAUSE.
WILL is staring at VIOLA
HENSLOWE
Well, that will have them rolling in
the aisles.
FENNYMAN
Sad and wonderful! I have a blue
velvet cap which will do well, I have
seen apothecary with a cap just so.
ALLEYN
(to WILL)
Yes--it will serve. But there's a scene
missing between marriage and death.
WILL is still staring at VIOLA. Aware, suddenly, of the
others watching, she breaks his gaze and drops her head.
WILL looks at NED.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. EVENING.
WILL and VIOLA. VIOLA dressed as THOMAS. He has present
for her--a neatly written manuscript of his play, on
sheets folded to octavo size.
WILL
The play. All written out for you. I
had the clerk at Bridewell do it, he
has a good fist for lettering.
She wants to accept the present with joy, but something
in his mood restrains her.
WILL (CONT'D)
There's a new scene
He turns the pages and shows her.
VIOLA
Will you read it for me?
WILL
(he knows it)
"Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near
day> It was the nightingale and not
the lark That pierced the fearful
hollow of thine ear. Nightly she sings
on yon pomegranate tree. Believe me,
">love, it was the nightingale."
VIOLA
(reading)
"It was the lark, the herald of the
morn, No nightingale. Look, ">love, what
envious streaks Do lace the severing
clouds in yonder east. Night's candles
are burnt out, and jocund day Stands
tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I
must be gone and live, or stay and
die."
The words of the scene become WILL'S and VIOLA'S, their
way of saying the farewells they cannot utter.
WILL
"Yon light is not daylight, I know it,
I. It is some meteor that the sun
exhales To be to thee this night a
torchbearer…"
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
But the scene is continuing with VIOLA dressed as
"THOMAS." Somewhere behind and up above the stage, in a
deserted corner among rigging, bits of scenery, etc.,
they speak the lines and we hardly know ourselves whether
it is rehearsal or lovemaking. But after a few moments it
is definitely lovemaking. Their clothes start coming
away, their words interrupted by kisses.
WILL
"…thou need'st not to be gone."
VIOLA
"I have more care to stay than will to
go. Come death, and welcome. Juliet
wills it so. How is't my soul? Let's
talk. It is not day."
By now, her loosened bosom-bandage has been pulled away
and WILL passionately embraces her nakedness.
And into this heaving composition comes a little white
mouse, unseen my them, climbing through a knot hole in
the planking behind VIOLA'S head.
An adjacent knot hole reveals a human eye and we do not
need to be told it is JOHN WEBSTER'S.
WEBSTER takes his eye away from the peephole, and frowns,
thinking it out.
EXT. ALLEWAY. DAY.
TILNEY puts a coin in WEBSTER'S hand.
TILNEY
You will go far, I fear.
TILNEY (CONT'D)
I hope we work together again. Tilney
walks away.
EXT. THE ROSE THEATRE. DAY.
A man is pacing up and down, in a sort of agony. He is
muttering. He is glancing at a sheet of paper. He is
FENNYMAN rehearsing the important role of the Apothecary,
for which he has a special voice.
FENNYMAN
"Such mortal drugs I have but Mantua's
law Is death to any he that utters
them." Then him. Then me.
"Put this in any liquid thing you will And…"--something
He has dried up. He curses--the terror and despair.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
"Such mortal drugs I have…" What is
it? What is it?
He is so wrapped up in all this that he simply does not
notice when WESSEX rides up to the main entrance
dismounts and walks inside.
INT. THE ROSE THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
Onstage, the rehearsal continues. WESSEX strides in.
Among the audience are HENSLOWE, a few actors…and JOHN
WEBSTER…who sees WESSEX and jumps up and goes to him.
WEBSTER
My lord!
WESSEX knocks him aside and continues.
WESSEX
(shouts)
;">Shakespeare!
Everything stops.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
You upstart inky pup! Now I will show
you your place, which is in hell!
WILL
You are on my ground.
WESSEX
(drawing his sword)
By God, I'll fight the lot of you
WILL draws his sword.
WILL
I am more than enough.
VIOLA reacts. She almost gives herself away. But the
fight has started.
WESSEX slashes at WILL. WILL knows how to fight. He
parries and thrusts. WESSEX is surprised. The fight goes
fast and furious around the stage, until WILL thrusts
accurately at WESSEX'S chest…and would have killed him
but for the button on his sword-point.
WESSEX grapples with him, and now it becomes a parody of
the Hamlet duel; WESSEX'S unbuttoned sword falls to the
ground, WILL puts his foot on it, tosses WESSEX his own
safe sword, picks up Wessex's sword and continues the
fight until he has WESSEX at his mercy.
WILL has fought with a passionate rage that has everybody
staring at him. Now the look in his eyes is merciless.
WILL (CONT'D)
Absent friends!
(to the assembly)
This is the murderer of Kit Marlowe!
NED ALLEYN comes forward looking worried and dubious.
ALLEYN
Will
WESSEX
I rejoiced at his death because I
thought it was yours. That is all I
know of Marlowe.
ALLEYN
It's true, Will--it was a tavern
brawl…Marlowe attacked, and got his
own knife in the eye. A quarrel about
the bill
HENSLOWE
The bill! Oh, vanity, vanity!
ALLEYN
Not the billing, the bill!
WILL steps back, and sinks to his knees. His relief could
not be greater.
WILL
(to the heavens)
Oh God, I am free of it!
WESSEX gets to his feet. TILNEY enters the auditorium
from the public entrance.
WESSEX
Close it!
TILNEY
My Lord Wessex!
WESSEX
(foaming)
Close it! Take it down stone by stone!
I want it ploughed into the ground,
and sown with quick lime!
WESSEX storms out past the bewildered TILNEY.
HENSLOWE
Mr. Tilney, what is this?
TILNEY
Sedition and indecency!
HENSLOWE
What?!
WEBSTER
Master of the Revels, sir, over here,
sir.
TILNEY
(to WEBSTER)
Where, boy?
WEBSTER
(points)
I saw her bubbies!
TILNEY
(shocked and gratified)
A woman on the stage? A woman?
WEBSTER
I swear it!
THE COMPANY of actors are dumbstruck. None more than
VIOLA.
TILNEY
So, Henslowe! I say this theatre is
closed! On the authority of the powers
invested in my by the court--I close
this theatre!
HENSLOWE
Why so?
TILNEY
(triumphantly)
For lewdness and unshamefacedness! For
displaying a female on the public
stage!
TILNEY is unstoppable. He jumps on the stage…and seizes
SAM GOSSE. Before WEBSTER or anyone can intervene, TILNEY
pulls up his skirt, ignoring SAM'S rather gutteral yell
of protest and pulls down SAM'S drawers.
TILNEY'S face is a study. So is everybody else's. WEBSTER
rolls his eyes (oh, these stupid grown-ups!) and deftly
throws one of his mice onto "ROMEO'S" hair. VIOLA gives a
shrill scream, the startled mouse descends her neck via
VIOLA'S ear, and seeks an entry into her collar. By which
time VIOLA has gone berserk and torn off her wig. Her
hair is pinned up but there is no question her gender.
WILL is paralysed. VIOLA gives him a look of terrible
despair and apology.
WEBSTER
(pointing at SAM)
Not him.
(pointing at VIOLA)
her.
HENSLOWE
He's a woman!
By now the scene is playing to a crowded theatre, or so
it seems.
TILNEY
That's who I meant! This theatre is
closed! Notice will be posted!
SAM has picked himself up, and his drawers.
HENSLOWE
(to NED)
Ned, I swear I knew nothing of this!
VIOLA
(hoping to protect WILL)
Nobody knew!
WEBSTER
(pointing at WILL)
He did! I saw him kissing her bubbies!
Everybody looks at WILL, who stares at VIOLA, helpless.
TILNEY
Closed! Closed, mark you, Henslowe!
TILNEY turns on his heel and leaves in triumph. THE
COMPANY is still polaxed.
HENSLOWE
(in despair)
It is over.
VIOLA
I am so sorry, Mr. Henslowe. I wanted
to be an actor.
(she turns to WILL)
I am sorry, Will.
WILL shakes his head. This cannot be the end. VIOLA walks
away, leaving by the public entrance. They all let her
go, watching her silently. As she passes WABASH
WABASH
Y-y-y-you w-w-w-were w-w-w-w-
wonderful.
VIOLA
Thank you.
As she is leaving, WILL comes to life. He starts off
towards her…but his progress is halted by a sock to the
jaw from NED ALLEYN. WILL falls down in the dust.
FENNYMAN enters, still bent over his sheet of paper,
mumbling his precious lines. When he reaches the
groundlings yard, he finds to his surprise the whole
COMPANY is standing about in attitudes of despair or
worse. FENNYMAN looks around.
FENNYMAN
Everything all right?
EXT. THE ROSE THEATRE. EVENING.
The closure notice is nailed to the door.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.
VIOLA, in her nightdress, is reading by candlelight. She
is reading her private manuscript of Romeo and Juliet…and
rereading. Next to her is a tray of covered dishes. the
NURSE enters and looks at her sympathetically. She lifts
the tray. She realises it is heavy. She puts it down and
raises the covers and sees that VIOLA has eaten nothing.
She looks at VIOLA'S tears, but there is nothing to be
said.
INT. TAVERN. DAY.
They are all there--the ADMIRAL'S MEN, including WILL and
HENSLOWE, drowning their sorrows. Everyone is drunk.
FENNYMAN is also there, taking the disaster somewhat
selfishly.
FENNYMAN
(muttering)
I would have been good…I would have
been great.
He hands a flask to RALPH who is in a similar mood.
RALPH
So would I. We both would.
RALPH contemplates the flask, and, since he's not
working, takes a swig. A moment later, he keels over,
rigid as a pole. The street door crashes open. BURBAGE
enters. Behind him enter a solid wedge of the
CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN, sober-faced, several with black eyes
and bandages round their heads.
FENNYMAN
(shouts)
Lambert!
LAMBERT, FENNYMAN'S henchman and killer, puts down his
tankard and comes forward, casually kicking chairs and
tables out of his way.
FENNYMAN (CONT'D)
Kill him!
LAMBERT reaches up to the wall over the bar and takes
down once of the ceremonial weapons hanging there--a
battle-axe.
But BURBAGE has flintlock pistol stuck into his sash.
BURBAGE draws and the pistol roars, shooting flame,
LAMBERT curses, drops the axe, nurses his wounded hand.
BURBAGE puts the pistol back into his sash. NED ALLEYN is
half-drunk at a table. He staggers to his feet. He faces
BURBAGE.
ALLEYN
Well, Burbage--you never did know when
your scene was over.
BURBAGE
That can wait. The Master of the
Revels despises us for vagrants,
tinkers, and peddlers of bombast. But
my father, James Burbage, had the
first licence to make a company of
players from Her Majesty, and he drew
from poets the literature of the age.
Their fame will be our fame. So let
them all know, we are men of parts. We
are a brotherhood, and we will be a
profession. Will ;">Shakespeare has a
play. I have a theatre. The Curtain is
yours.
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
A strong wind is blowing through the trees. A BOY with a
paste-pot and a bundle of flyers, is having trouble
pasting a flyer on the wall of the building. A gust of
wind scatters the bundle and sends a couple of dozen
flyers flying into the sky. The BOY with the paste-pot
runs around, trying to recover those he can. We look at
the poster. It says
BY PERMISSION OF
MR. BURBAGE
A
HUGH FENNYMAN PRODUCTION
OF
MR. HENSLOWE'S PRESENTATION
OF
THE ADMIRAL'S MEN IN PERFORMANCE
OF
THE EXCELLENT AND LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY
OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
with Mr. Fennyman as the Apothecary
WILL comes out of the theatre, and passes the poster. He
walks on without looking at it. A voice calls after him:
HENSLOWE
Will!
WILL does not turn to look at him.
HENSLOWE (CONT'D)
We'll be needing a Romeo
WILL carries on walking.
EXT. STREETS. DAY.
WILL is pushing through the crowds on his way to the
river.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. VIOLA'S BEDROOM. DAY.
The NURSE is helping VIOLA to dress--in a wedding dress.
The NURSE is in tears. VIOLA submits to the task
impassively.
EXT. THE RIVER. DAY.
WILL is climbing down the ladder to the waiting boats.
INT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. HALL. DAY.
WESSEX, dressed to be a bridegroom is concluding his
negotiations with DE LESSEPS, while LADY DE LESSEPS
weeps. DE LESSEPS is signing papers. There is a money
chest, too.
WESSEX
My ship is moored at Bankside, bound
for Virginia on the afternoon
tide--please do not weep, Lady De
Lesseps, you are gaining a colony.
DE LESSEPS
And you are gaining five thousand
pounds, my lord…by these drafts in my
hand.
WESSEX
Would you oblige me with fifty or so
in gold?--just to settle my accounts at
the dockside?
DE LESSEPS sighs and unlocks his money chest. WESSEX
places his empty purse on the desk.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
Ah!--Look, she comes!
VIOLA has appeared at the top of the stairs with the
NURSE.
VIOLA
Good morning, my lord. I see you are
open for business so let's to church.
EXT. DE LESSEPSES' HOUSE. DAY.
WILL is running across the grass towards the house. As he
crosses the bridge over the moat, a carriage bears down
on him, and he has to flatten himself against the wall of
the gatehouse as the carriage passes, taking WESSEX and
his bride to church. WILL'S face, as he watches the
carriage disappear. Distant bells begin to peal
EXT. CHURCH DOOR. DAY.
The bells announce the completion of the marriage--as
WESSEX and the new LADY WESSEX leave the church. VIOLA'S
veil is flying in the wind, and beneath it we can just
see VIOLA'S unhappy face. The DE LESSEPS FAMILY entourage
is applauding. WESSEX beams with satisfaction.
Suddenly the sky and the wind deliver a message--a flyer
from the Curtain slaps against WESSEX'S face. He claws at
it and tries to throw it away. The wind delivers it to
VIOLA'S bosom. She takes it up and reads it. And passes
it to the NURSE.
WESSEX descends the steps to where the curtained carriage
awaits the bride and groom. He gallantly holds the door
for VIOLA to enter. She climbs aboard. WESSEX makes to
follow her.
NURSE
My lord!
The NURSE grasps him in a moving embrace, to WESSEX'S
discomfort.
NURSE (CONT'D)
Be good to her, my lord!
WESSEX
I will.
He tries to disengage. She won't have it.
NURSE
God bless you!
WESSEX
Thank you. Let go, there's a good
nurse.
After a couple of further attempts, WESSEX extricates
himself.
WESSEX (CONT'D)
The tide will not wait. Farewell!
WESSEX pulls aside the curtain and gets in.
INT. CARRIAGE. DAY.
It takes a moment for WESSEX to realise he is alone in
there. He looks around but VIOLA has fled.
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
Hundreds of people are converging on the theatre. Among
them is the Puritan MAKEPEACE, vainly exhorting the
crowds to run away from sin
MAKEPEACE
Licentiousness is made a show, vice is
made a show, vanity and pride likewise
made a show! This is the very business
of show
But MAKEPEACE is being carried inexorably through the
main doors of the theatre.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
The ADMIRAL'S MEN are all in costume, and are in a buzz
of nervous excitement. ALLEYN, dressed for "MERCUTIO," is
giving last minute instructions to PETER. JAMES and JOHN
HEMMINGS are arguing about the timing of their entrance.
FENNYMAN in his apothecary's cap is agonising over his
lines. WABASH is stuttering over his. Alone in his
dejection in the midst of all this, is WILL, dressed for
"ROMEO."
FENNYMAN approaches him, apothecary's
cap in hand.
FENNYMAN
Is this all right?
WILL nods, miserable. SAM has found a private corner. He
is gargling into a basin. He looks worried and furtive.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
The audience is gathering.
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
Word has got around. Even rich people are coming. They
arrive by carriage and by palanquin.
Some of them are cloaked and hooded, slumming incognito.
A cannon booms from the Curtain. The flag of the
ADMIRAL'S MEN flutters above.
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. ENTRANCE. DAY.
LAMBERT and FREES are taking the entrance money.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
The auditorium is now packed. Among them, sheepish, is
MAKEPEACE.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
Everything is ready. NED signals the musicians. Trumpets
and drums sound. The house falls silent.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE WINGS. DAY.
WABASH seems to be important at the beginning. We have
never been told what part he plays. He is still muttering
lines and stuttering them.
WABASH
(mutter)
T-t-t-two h-h-households b-both alike
in d-d-d-dignity.
WILL listens to him in agony. He finds HENSLOWE next to
him.
WILL
(to HENSLOWE)
We are lost.
HENSLOWE
No, it will turn out well.
WILL
How will it?
HENSLOWE
I don't know, it's a mystery.
And off we go. HENSLOWE claps WABASH on the shoulder and
sends him through the curtain.
ANGLE on WABASH
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
The audience waits expectantly. WABASH gathers himself.
WABASH AS THE CHORUS
T-t-t-t-two
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
WILL shuts his eyes and prays.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
WABASH launches himself into a perfect audacious delivery
like a star.
WABASH AS THE CHORUS
"…Household both alike in dignity (in
fair Verona where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break to new
mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil
hands unclean. From forth the fatal
loins of these two foes A pair of star-
cross'd lovers take their life, Whose
misadventured piteous overthrows Doth
with their death bury their parents'
strife…"
EXT. STREET. DAY.
VIOLA and the NURSE, hurrying toward the Curtain.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
HEMMINGS BROTHERS are ready to go on as "SAMPSON" and
"GROCERY," Act I Scene I. They shake hands. Beyond the
curtain, the audience applauds the Prologue as WABASH
comes through the curtain backstage.
WILL
(to WABASH)
Wonderful!
WABASH
W-w-w-was it g-g-g-good?
The HEMMINGS BROTHERS enter the arena and the play
begins.
POV: from THE WINGS:
JOHN HEMMINGS AS SAMPSON
"Gregory, on my word we'll not carry
coals."
JAMES HEMMINGS AS GREGORY
"No, for then we should be colliers."
WILL looks as if he would rather be
dead. SAM GOSSE approaches WILL,
nervously.
SAM
(nervously--in a deep bass
guttural hoarse voice)
Master ;">Shakespeare
WILL
(absently)
Luck be with you, Sam.
(as the awful truth gets
through to him)
Sam…?
SAM
(in the same voice)
It is not my fault, Master
;">Shakespeare. I could do it yesterday.
WILL
Sam! Do me a speech, do me a line.
SAM
(the effect is horrible)
"Parting is such sweet sorrow…"
HENSLOWE has been overhearing.
HENSLOWE
Another little problem.
WILL
What do we do now?
HENSLOWE
The show must … you know
WILL
Go on.
HENSLOWE
Juliet does not come on for twenty
pages. It will be all right.
WILL
How will it?
HENSLOWE
I don't know. It's a mystery.
And he makes his way towards the front of the house.
EXT. STREET. DAY.
A furious WESSEX is hurrying along the road to the
theatre.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM/STAGE. DAY.
VIOLA and the NURSE are arriving, and looking for a seat
in the gallery. BURBAGE and his MEN are standing at the
back, behind the people seated in the gallery. The first
scene of the play is continuing
ARMITAGE AS ABRAM
"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"
JOHN HEMMINGS AS SAMPSON
"I do bite my thumb, sir."
BURBAGE finds HENSLOWE plucking agitatedly at his sleeve.
HENSLOWE
Can we talk?
They are standing behind the back row of the gallery
seats. The spectator in front of them is the NURSE. She
turns round and shushes HENSLOWE up.
HENSLOWE (CONT'D)
(whispering to BURBAGE)
We have no Juliet!
BURBAGE
(forgetting to whisper)
No Juliet?!
VIOLA
(turning)
No Juliet?!
HENSLOWE
it will be all right, madam.
VIOLA
What happened to Sam?
HENSLOWE
Who are you?
VIOLA
Thomas Kent!
Their whispers are causing black looks and hushing noises
from the neighbours. HENSLOWE pulls VIOLA from her seat,
luckily an aisle seat.
HENSLOWE
Do you know it?
VIOLA
(showing the manuscript)
Every word.
HENSLOWE and BURBAGE look at each other. CUT TO:
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
PHILIP AS LADY CAPULET
"Nurse, where is my daughter? Call her
forth to me."
RALPH AS NURSE
"Now by my maidenhead at twelve year
old, I bade her come. What, lamb. What
ladybird."
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE WINGS/STAGE. DAY.
SAM who gathers himself, to make his entrance, quietly
and horribly practising "How now, who calls?"
RALPH AS NURSE
(on stage)
"God forbid. Where's this girl?
The author and star, WILL ;">SHAKESPEARE, has his back to
the stage, his hands over his ears. He is cowering in
dread anticipation.
RALPH AS NURSE (CONT'D)
"What, Juliet!"
As SAM is about to enter HENSLOWE'S hand yanks him by the
collar, and VIOLA overtakes him and steps on stage. Enter
"JULIET." VIOLA is not wearing the been hidden from us by
her cloak.
VIOLA AS JULIET
"How now, who calls?"
RALPH AS NURSE
"Your mother."
VIOLA AS JULIET
"Madam. I am here, what is your will?
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
There is a collective gasp. Nobody has ever seen a BOY
PLAYER like this.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE WINGS. DAY.
WILL takes his hands from his ears, and turns round in
amazement at the sound of VIOLA'S voice.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM/STAGE. DAY.
WESSEX has just arrived in the auditorium and jumps as if
he has been shot. He seems about to intervene, but
looking around at the rapt faces he realises he cannot.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE WINGS. DAY.
HENSLOWE and BURBAGE look at each other.
BURBAGE
We will all be put in the clink.
HENSLOWE
(shrugs)
See you in jail.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
FENNYMAN, oblivious to the drama, is practising his lines
in a fever of nervousness.
FENNYMAN
"Such mortal drugs I have but Mantua's
Law Is death to any he that utters
them." Then him. Then me.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
Swordplay. An amazing performance that holds the audience
spellbound. "TYBALT" kills "MERCUTIO."
ALLEYN AS MERCUTIO
(to ROMEO)
"I am hurt.
WILL AS ROMEO
Courage man. The hurt cannot be much.
ALLEYN A MERCUTIO
Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find
me a grave man."
A roll of thunder. Over the heads of the audience, far
above the thatched roof of the theatre, clouds are
gathering in the sky. On stage "MERCUTIO" is in 'ROMEO'S"
arms, but the tone of the playing is unlike anything we
have seen before: without bombast, intense and real. And
the audience is quiet and attentive.
ALLEYN AS MERCUTIO (CONT'D)
"…--Why the devil came you between us?
I was hurt under your arms."
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
In the semirural view towards the City of London, there
can be discerned a gaggle of approaching MEN and three is
something orderly about them. As they come closer, we see
that they are a company of PIKE MEN, marching toward the
theatre, led by the Master of the Revels, TILNEY. Thunder
rolls.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
Figures are running across the stage, in the panic that
follows "TYBALT" death.
ACTOR AS BENVOLIO
"Romeo, away, be gone! The citizens
are up and Tybalt slain. Stand not
amazed. The prince will doom thee
death If thou art taken. Hence, be
gone away!"
WILL AS ROMEO
"I am fortune's fool!"
ACTOR AS BENVOLIO
"Why dost thou stay!"
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. BACKSTAGE. DAY.
WILL has just 'killed' "TYBALT." He is still breathless
from fighting. he stands face to face with VIOLA.
WILL
I am fortune's fool.
They stare at each other, transfixed.
WILL (CONT'D)
You are married?
PAUSE. She cannot answer.
WILL (CONT'D)
If you be married, my gave is like to
be my wedding bed. The implication of
her silence fills the air. WILL does
not move.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
We cannot tell whether this is the play or their life.
The audience, and the rest of the world, might as well
not exist. WILL turn from her and begins to descend from
the 'balcony.'
VIOLA AS JULIET
"Art thou gone so?
WILL stops.
VIOLA AS JULIET (CONT'D)
">Love, lord, ay husband, friend, I must
hear from thee every day in the hour,
For in a minute there are many days.
O, by this count I shall be much in
years Ere I again behold my Romeo…"
WILL as "ROMEO" seems unable to speak. Then he says:
WILL AS ROMEO
"…Farewell…"
All other sounds drain away, and time seems to stop.
VIOLA AS JULIET
"O think'st thou we shall ever meet
again…? Methinks I see thee, now thou
art so low, As one dead in the bottom
of a tomb. Either my eyesight fails,
or thou lookest pale."
WILL AS ROMEO
"Trust me, ">love, in my eyes so do you.
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu.
Adieu"
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
Now the FRIAR is giving "JULIET' his potion.
EDWARD AS FRIAR
"No warmth, no breath shall testify
thou livest And in this borrow'd
likeness of shrunk death Thou shall
continue two and forty hours And then
awake as from a pleasant sleep…"
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
It's FENNYMAN'S moment. The "APOTHECARY" and "ROMEO."
WILL AS ROMEO
"Come hither, man. I see that thou art
poor. Hold, there is forty ducats. Let
me have A dram of poison--"
FENNYMAN AS APOTHECARY
"Such mortal drugs I have but Mantua's
law is death to any he that utters
them!"
FENNYMAN has cut in several lines early, but his
conviction is astonishing.
FENNYMAN AS APOTHECARY
"My poverty but not my will consents."
WILL AS ROMEO
"I pay thy poverty and not thy will."
EXT. STREET. NEAR THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
TILNEY, on the march. His hand grips a copy of the
Curtain flyer.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
"JULIET" lies "dead." She lies on top of her tomb, "lying
in stage," her best dress, her hair done, her hands in
prayer at her breast, her eyes closed. "ROMEO" has found
her like this.
WILL AS ROMEO
"Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your
last embrace! and lips, Oh you The
doors of breath, seal with a righteous
kiss A dateless bargain to engrossing
death! Come, bitter conduct; come,
unsavory guide! Thou desparate pilot,
now at once run on The dashing rocks
thy seasick weary bark!"
As WILL embraces her, VIOLA'S eyes flicker open (shielded
by WILL from the audience) and the lovers look at each
other for a moment as WILL and VIOLA rather than as
"ROMEO" and "JULIET." Their eyes are wet with tears.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
BURBAGE and ROSALINE are watching.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
KEMPE is watching.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
We see that in the audience are several of the WHORES we
recognise from the brothel. They are weeping openly.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
WILL is raising the fatal drug in a last toast.
WILL AS ROMEO
"Here's to my ">love (he drinks) O true
Apothecary."
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE WINGS. DAY.
FENNYMAN, moved but proud in the wings.
FENNYMAN
(whispers to himself)
I was good. I was great.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
WILL AS ROMEO
"Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss
I die." (and he dies)
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
The NURSE is weeping too.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
"JULIET" wakes up with a start.
VIOLA AS JULIET
"…Where is my lord?
I do remember well where I should be, And there I am.
Where is my Romeo?"
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM. DAY.
NURSE
(involuntarily)
Dead!
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
VIOLA AS JULIET
"What here? A cup clos'd in my true
">love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been
his timeless end."
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
"JULIET" takes "ROMEO'S" dagger.
VIOLA AS JULIET
"…O happy dagger
This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die."
She stabs herself and dies. The "inner curtain" closes
over the tomb.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE/AUDITORIUM. DAY.
HIGH ANGLE on audience and stage. "THE PRINCE" played by
WABASH is having the last word.
THE PRINCE
"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
The end. There is complete silence. The ACTORS are
worried. But then the audience goes mad with applause.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. THE INNER CURTAIN/STAGE. DAY.
The inner curtain opens, but WILL and VIOLA, are in a
play of their own…embracing and kissing passionately,
making their own farewell. HENSLOWE is too stunned and
moved to react at first. Then he looks at the audience
and the penny drops. It's a hit.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. AUDITORIUM/STAGE. DAY.
The audience roars. WILL, VIOLA, and THE COMPANY come
forward to meet the applause. TILNEY and his MEN burst
in. TILNEY jumps up onto the stage, where the ADMIRAL'S
MEN are taking their bows. TILNEY'S "COPS" ring the
stage, facing inwards.
TILNEY
(shouts triumphantly)
I arrest you in the name of Queen
Elizabeth!
The AUDIENCE goes quiet. BURBAGE jumps out of the
audience onto the stage.
BURBAGE
Arrest who, Mr. Tilney?
TILNEY
Everybody! The Admiral's Men, The
Chamberlain's Men and everyone of you
ne'er-do-wells who stands in contempt
of the authority invested in me by her
Majesty.
BURBAGE
Contempt? You closed the Rose--I have
not opened it.
TILNEY is at a loss but only for a moment.
TILNEY
(he points a "j'accuse"
finger at VIOLA)
That woman is a woman!
The entire audience and the actors, recoil and gasp. The
NURSE crosses herself.
ALLEYN
What?! A woman?! You mean that goat?!
He points at VIOLA, brazening it out without much chance.
TILNEY
I'll see you all in the clink! In the
same of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
And an authoritative voice from the audience interrupts
him.
VOICE
Mr. Tilney…!
It is QUEEN ELIZABETH herself, descending now, her hood
and cloak thrown back. She is an awesome sight. A shaft
of sunlight hits her.
QUEEN
Have a care with my name, you will
wear it out.
There is a general parting of the waves, soldiers and
actors, a general backing off and bowing as QUEEN
ELIZABETH takes the limelight.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
The Queen of England does not attend
exhibitions of public lewdness so
something is out of joint. Come here,
Master Kent. Let me look at you.
VIOLA comes forward, and is about to curtsey when she
catches the QUEEN'S eye, an arresting eye, which arrests
the curtsey and turns it into a sweeping bow.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
Yes, the illusion is remarkable and
your error, Mr. Tilney, easily
forgiven, but I know something of a
woman in a man's profession, yes, by
God, I do know about that. That is
enough from you, Maser Kent. If only
Lord Wessex were here.
VOICE
He is, Ma'am.
The voice belongs to JOHN WEBSTER. He points firmly at a
figure in the audience, WESSEX, trying to look
inconspicuous.
WESSEX
(weakly)
Your Majesty
QUEEN
There was a wager, I remember…as to
whether a play can show the very truth
and nature of ">love. I think you lost
it today.
(turning to WEBSTER)
You are an eager boy. Did you like the
play?
WEBSTER
I liked it when she stabbed herself,
your Majesty.
The QUEEN fixes WILL with a beady eye.
QUEEN
Master ;">Shakespeare. Next time to you
come to Greenwich, Come as yourself
and we will speak some more. WILL bows
deeply. The QUEEN turns to leave. The
waves part for her.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. MAIN ENTRANCE. DAY.
The QUEEN is bowed out through the doors.
EXT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. DAY.
A gaggle of the QUEEN'S favoured courtiers wait by her
carriage. WESSEX is hurrying down the exterior staircase
as the QUEEN emerges from the theatre. During the
following a general egress from the Auditorium is taking
place, including some of the actors crowding to see her
off. WESSEX bows out of breath.
WESSEX
Your Majesty!
QUEEN
Why, Lord Wessex! Lost your wife so
soon?
WESSEX
Indeed I am a bride short. How is this
to end?
VIOLA has come out of the theatre, amongst some of the
other players. The QUEEN catches her eye.
QUEEN
As stories must when ">love's
denied--with tears and a journey. Those
whom God has joined in marriage, not
even I can put asunder.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
(she turns to VIOLA)
Lord Wessex, as I foretold, has lost
his wife in the play- house--go make
your farewell and send her out. It's
time to settle accounts.
(to WESSEX)
How much was the wager?
WESSEX
Fifty shillings.
(the QUEEN gives him a look)
Pounds.
QUEEN
Give it to Master Kent. He will see it
rightfully home. WESSEX gives his
purse to VIOLA.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
(to VIOLA)
And tell ;">Shakespeare something more
cheerful next time for Twelfth Night.
The QUEEN proceeds towards her carriage. There is an
enormous puddle between her and her carriage. The QUEEN
hesitates for a fraction and then marches through the
puddle as cloaks descend upon it.
QUEEN (CONT'D)
Too late, too late.
She splashes her way into her carriage, which departs.
INT. THE CURTAIN THEATRE. STAGE. DAY.
WILL
(heartbroken, testing her
name)
My Lady Wessex?
VIOLA nods, heartbroken too. For a long moment they
cannot say anything to each other. The she holds up
Wessex's purse.
VIOLA
A hired player no longer. Fifty
pounds, Will, for the poet of true
">love.
WILL
I am done with theatre. The playhouse
is for dreamers. Look where the dream
has brought us.
VIOLA
It was we ourselves did that. And for
my life to come I would not have it
otherwise.
WILL
I have hurt you and I am sorry for it.
VIOLA
If my hurt is to be that you will
write no more, then I shall be the
sorrier.
WILL looks at her.
VIOLA (CONT'D)
The Queen commands a comedy, Will for
Twelfth Night.
WILL
(harshly)
A comedy! What will my hero be but the
saddest wretch in the kingdom, sick
with ">love?
VIOLA
An excellent beginning
(a beat)
Let him be…a duke. And your heroine?
WILL
(bitterly)
Sold in marriage and half way to
America.
VIOLA
(adjusting)
At sea, then--a voyage to a new
world?…she lands upon a vast and empty
shore. She is brought to the
duke…Orsino.
WILL
(despite himself)
Orsino…good name
VIOLA
But fearful of her virtue, she comes
to him dressed as a boy
WILL
(Catching it)
and thus unable to declare her ">love
Pause. They look at each other. Suddenly the conversation
seems to be about them.
VIOLA
But all ends well.
WILL
How does it?
VIOLA
I don't know. It's a mystery
WILL half smiles. Then he's serious. They look deeply at
each other…and rush into each other's arm.
WILL (CONT'D)
You will never age for me, nor fade,
nor die.
VIOLA
Nor you for me.
WILL
Good bye, my ">love, a thousand times
good bye.
VIOLA
Write me well.
She kisses him with finality. Then turns and runs from
him. WILL watches as she goes.
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.
A blank page. A hand is writing: TWELFTH NIGHT. We see
WILL sitting at his table.
WILL (VO)
My story starts at sea…a perilous
voyage to an unknown land…a shipwreck
EXT. UNDERWATER. DAY.
Two figures plunge into the water
WILL (VO)
the wild waters roar and heave…the
brave vessel is dashed all to pieces,
and all the helpless souls within her
drowned
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.
WILL at his table writing
WILL (VO)
all save one … a lady
EXT. UNDERWATER. DAY.
VIOLA in the water
WILL (VO)
whose soul is greater than the ocean …
and her spirit stronger than the sea's
embrace … not for her watery end, but
a new life beginning on a stranger
shore
EXT. BEACH. DAY.
VIOLA is walking up a vast and empty beach ….
WILL (VO CONTINUED)
It will be a ">love story … for she will
be my heroine for all time
INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.
WILL looks up from the table.
WILL (VO CONTINUED)
and her name will be … Viola.
He looks down at the paper, and writes: "Viola" Then:
"What country friends is this?"
EXT. BEACH. DAY.
DISSOLVE slowly to VIOLA, walking away up the beach
towards her brave new world.
THE END