Through Bonnie Hewett’s clever direction, the two-person cast skillfully transforms the Holy Trinity Church into a stage. Susanna positions herself behind the lectern and satirizes the role of Stratford preacher for her father, to hilarious effect. Wittily and engagingly, Susanna and Will parody the manners and lives of clergy, kings, and others.
Susanna and Will takes us on a satisfying journey of discovery. Stubbornly, Susanna challenges Will to answer questions that have burned within her. We glean plausible (albeit fictional) insight into age-old questions about Shakespeare's career choice and eventual prosperity; whether he composed any of his “sugared sonnets” for Ann herself; how young Hamnet died and how his death affected his parents; whether Shakespeare attended the funeral; where Shakespeare went during outbreaks of the plague; and why he never moved his family to London.
In Act Two, Hewett’s direction is especially astute. Nearly 20 years have passed since Susanna first conjured Will. It is 1642, and the English Parliament is at war with King Charles I. Susanna is old and gray, stiff and forgetful. She scurries about the Church, frantically searching for a place to hide her prized Second Folio edition of her father's plays. She fears the valuable book will be confiscated by Queen Henrietta’s men.
For Will, who is conjured again in Act Two as Susanna quotes the Weird Sisters in Macbeth, the visit to Earth is historically enlightening. Father and daughter entertain one another with diatribe and raucous impersonations. We watch their antics in the context of England's civil war and declining prosperity. Amid their reenactment of King Charles' and Queen Henrietta's reign, they also revisit lines and snippets from the plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Henry VI.
Howie's brilliantly written story sparkles under Hewett's skillful direction. Fans of Shakespeare will find this new work rich and fascinating.
Performances of Susanna and Will ran from April 4 to 19 at the Country Playhouse in Houston.
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