The Beard of Avon
By Amy Freed
Directed by Rick Frendt
A bumpkin known as "Will Shakspere" who longs to be an artist flees from his filthy barn, his homebound wife and her incessant chores. In Elizabethan London, did this stagestruck dreamer become a front man for Sir Francis Bacon, the Earl of Oxford and even Queen Elizabeth, authors too proud to admit they scribbled plays for the unwashed masses? This delicious and witty farce fashions the longstanding debate over who really penned the Bard's cannon into a merry look at the mortality of artists and the immortality of their legacy.
Fridays & Saturdays at 8pmSundays at 2pm
Prairie Lakes Theater
515 E. Thacker StreetDes Plaines, IL 60016
A bumpkin known as "Will Shakspere" who longs to be an artist flees from his filthy barn, his homebound wife and her incessant chores. In Elizabethan London, did this stagestruck dreamer become a front man for Sir Francis Bacon, the Earl of Oxford and even Queen Elizabeth, authors too proud to admit they scribbled plays for the unwashed masses? This delicious and witty farce fashions the longstanding debate over who really penned the Bard's cannon into a merry look at the mortality of artists and the immortality of their legacy.
Cast
- William Shakspere Scott Kelley
- Edward De Vere Terry McEnroe
- Elizabeth Sarah Jane Blevins
- Anne Hathaway Annie DiMaria
- Henry Wriothesley/ Geoffrey Maher
- Old Colin/Lucy/Walter Fitch Harold LeBoyer
- John Heminge/Lord Burleigh Bruce Moore
- Henry Condell/Francis Bacon Manny Schenk
- Geoffrey Dunderbread/Lettice/Minstrel Michael Zubb
- Richard Burbage/Lord Walsingham Steve Levitt
Creative
- Director/Scenic Design Rick Frendt
- Costume Design Frank Skony
- Lighting Design Terrence Pogge
- Sound Design Rob Woolson
- Prop Design/Stage Manager/Producer Helga Kennedy
- Assistant Stage Manager Daiva Paulis
- Master Carpenter Tom Ziobro