A talk by Lena Cowen Orlin with performance workshop

Saturday 13 February 2016
Great Hall, Strand Campus, King's College London
Part of 'What you Will: King's Shakespeare Festival'

Review by Aurora Ganz

In the era of communication, two main trends have emerged: one that tends to overprotect the intimate spheres of privacy, and the other, which constantly looks for new platform to expose publicly our daily life. Regardless of their profoundly diverse objectives, these two tendencies have something in common: a sacred view of information. We want to know, and when we cannot know, we speculate.

In the bonanza of facts, doubts and mysteries surrounding the domestic life of William Shakespeare, Prof. Lena Cowen Orlin is a great and wise Sherpa that guides the audience through the enigmatic aspects of the man’s family life.

During her lecture at King’s College, Prof. Orlin explored Shakespeare’s family life and his marriage to Anne Hathaway in a fresh and perceptive way. Her accurate and critical work on a wide range of archival records helped us discover the myths behind Shakespeare’s biography.

In particular, Shakespeare’s death left us with one tormenting question: how come in his will, a master of putting love onto paper would leave only the “second best bed” to his significant other? In his last words there is no trace of emotion or romantic passion. He leaves to his wife that piece of furniture, which was nor his most favorite, nor the most comfortable, but just the second one.

Despite the will is a bare legal text, it gave scholars enough material to conjecture on Shakespeare’s frustration for an unfortunate marriage.

While listening to Prof. Orlin revisiting Shakespeare’s bequest, you loose yourself in the traditions of that age, in the obscure forensic formulas and the bizarre habits of a far past. Sometimes you experience the awkward feeling of being snooping around the private life of the poet, or trying weirdly to find love amid furniture and judicial expressions.

From Orlin’s analysis, Shakespeare emerges as a rational and judicious man, a caring father that made his choices moved by the love for his daughter, more than a questionable indifference for his wife. The will reflects Shakespeare’s concern over his wicked son-in-law and his desire to ensure his descendant a safe future.

Shakespeare’s earnest personality emerged also during the second part of the event, the Performance Workshop. A team of four talented actors brought to life two

marital court cases of that age. Playing as key witness in the Bellott vs Mountjoy quarrel, Shakespeare’s involvement helped shed more light on his character.

As highlighted during the roundtable discussion that followed the event, a performance on stage is a unique opportunity to explore the enormous narrative power of the archives. Indeed, there is no better way to discover Shakespeare than joining academic and artistic efforts to revive the words of his life as simple family man.