Stratford Festival/I Am William, text by Rébecca Déraspe, songs by Chloé Lacasse and Benoit Landry, English translation by Leanna Brodie, directed by Esther Jun, Tom Patterson Theatre Canopy, Aug. 10 to Sept. 12. Tickets available at stratfordfestival.ca.
Imagine a play about that quintessential English icon William Shakespeare written in Québécois French. In fact, the delightful Stratford production of I Am William began life as Je suis William in 2018 at Théâtre le Clou in Montreal, where the play was developed. The show is the brainchild of acclaimed Québécoise playwright, Rébecca Déraspe.
Déraspe’s premise can take its place proudly among other Shakespeare conspiracy theories. In I Am William, it is the Bard’s sister Margaret who is the real writer, with brother Will acting as the front. (Factoid: Shakespeare did have a sister called Margaret who died before she was one year old.)
I Am William is Stratford’s 2021 Schulich children’s play, and Déraspe specifically wrote it for the youth market. I think the ideal audience would be eight or nine years old, up to pre-teens. The subject matter is relentlessly feminist in terms of gender inequality, while also encouraging the empowerment of the marginalized to tell their own stories. These are pretty lofty themes for younger children, or so it seems to me.
Set in 1577, we see father John Shakespeare (Allan Louis) treat daughter Margaret (Shakura Dickson) little better than a slave, while showering son Will (Landon Doak) with oodles of love. Mother Mary (Shannon Taylor) is the typical, taken-for-granted, household drudge.
To frame the play, we hear the terrible story of a village girl called Benedicta, who, because she could read and write, was accused of being a witch, and subjected to the witch trials. And so we understand why Margaret is terrified about anyone learning her secret.
Déraspe is what I would call a scatter gun writer. By that, I mean, she is not afraid to go off on tangents. For example, characters break the fourth wall in amusing ways, such as Mother Mary using the word “feminist”, and then confiding to the audience that the word didn’t exist in 1577. These jokes are aimed at the adults, which makes the show enjoyable for us as well.
And then there are Margaret’s beautiful verses from her play inspired by Benedicta. Déraspe’s clever faux-Shakespeare could be the real thing in terms of rhythm and rhyme, and I stand in awe of the playwright’s long-time translator, Leanna Brodie, who rendered the lines into Shakespearean English. I can’t even imagine them in Québécois French!
(As a side note, Brodie is a well-known playwright in her own right. Any frequent attendee of the Blyth Festival and 4th Line Theatre would be familiar with Brodie’s hit play Schoolhouse which premiered in 2006 and played at both venues.)
Déraspe also adds to the humour by contrasting Will’s feeble poems to his love Amuletta, with Margaret’s verses that reflect genuine talent. And Déraspe is not above slapstick, as there is a running joke about the morning roosters, not to mention hilarious rides on horses. There are also surprises in the plot, which certainly add to the interest. Déraspe keeps you guessing.
The subtitle of I Am William is “A Play With Music” with songs by Chloé Lacasse and Benoit Landry. One of the delights of the play is that you never know where a song is going to pop up. Sometimes they carry forward the plot, sometimes they are songs of reflection, sometimes they are not even complete songs, but stop abruptly.
There is also a lot of variety in the style of the songs, from folk tune to opera, which brings us to the whimsical arrangements of Njo Kong Kie who conducts from the keyboard. Percussionist Graham Hargrove plays a dizzying array of instruments, but the strangest part of the onstage ensemble is Ben Bolt-Martin, who is featured on cello and trumpet. This odd collection adds humour in and of itself. I was kind of taken aback by the trumpet.
This Stratford season is being performed in two open-sided tents. At the Tom Patterson Theatre Canopy, the stage is in the middle, with audience pods on either side. Kudos to director Esther Jun, and her judicious staging, which embraced both directions in seamless fashion. Jun also keeps the action light and playful, while making sure the serious bits don’t get lost in the shuffle.
The cast is certainly full of vim and vigour, with mother, father and son allowed to overact, with Margaret remaining the grounded centre. Doak’s Will is a high energy, brash, lovable, callow youth with a pleasant voice. Louis is the necessary curmudgeonly father with a big, deep, rolling operatic sound, while Taylor, who brings sparkle to what could be a cipher of a role, can reach a high soprano. I’d call the stately Dickson a contralto because she certainly has some gorgeous low notes.
Co-designers Michelle Bohn and Samantha McCue have devised a simple set of hay bales and a table, with the dominant feature being a wooden frame of a Tudor house. Margaret writes her verses on the upstairs platform. The simple set and period costumes are quite effective.
In short, I Am William radiates both charm and substance. It is also more relevant today than when it premiered in 2018. At the back of my mind as I watched I Am William were the women and girls of Afghanistan.
And a final note to Stratford artistic director Antoni Cimolino. I know that you want to put bums in seats, but the iron chairs in both tents are so hard that your backside goes numb. Stratford is missing out on a sure fire, money-making scheme. You should be renting or selling those square cushions like they do in stadiums and other hard surface seating.
When I come back to Stratford, I’m bringing one from home.
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