Out of the Wings

El otro William (1994), Jaime Salom Vidal

The Other William : ACT ONE excerpt 1 , ACT ONE excerpt 2 , ACT ONE excerpt 3 , ACT TWO excerpt 1 , ACT TWO excerpt 2

The Other William, translated by Gwynneth Dowling

ACT ONE excerpt 1

Context:

William’s servants arrive to tell him that he has become the Earl of Derby. He reveals to the audience his secret love of writing plays.

Sample text

COSTRAND:: My lord Earl! My lord Earl! (He kneels at his feet.) I bow before you, Your Excellency…
WILLIAM:: Have you gone mad, you wretch? I am not an Earl.
COSTRAND:: You are, my lord. I bring you this news. Your brother died suddenly last night. Since he has no male children, you inherit the title. I bow before you my lord, sixth Earl of Derby. May God grant you many years…
MARY: (Kneeling as well.): Long live our lord Earl!
WILLIAM:: Arise…; Together they put the doublet on WILLIAM.
COSTRAND:: The entire household is excited by this news. Servants singing and dancing. They’ve burst into the kitchen, stuffing themselves. And the taps on the cellar casks have been opened…
WILLIAM:: No one on my land will celebrate the death of my beloved brother. Get out! Leave me alone!
COSTRAND: (Bowing continuously as he leaves.): My lord Earl…
MARY:: Until tonight, my lord…
WILLIAM:: No, my lovely. Tonight, as a mark of mourning, we will abstain… (MARY leaves. To the audience.) And that’s how I found out I was an Earl. Excellent news! Because the Earldom of Derby comes with a great many benefits, lands and cattle. Although this Earl business can also be dangerous. It could be that they poisoned my poor brother. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to a nobleman. The Catholics might have killed him, never able to forgive his allegiance to the Anglican Queen. In any case, may he rest in peace. Let no one involve me in his intrigues! Let them leave me to my writing! Because, above all else, I’m a writer. And, as I’m not ashamed to admit, I’m a great writer – which is greatly frowned upon in this hypocritical society. A writer is considered little less than a jester; a disgrace for anyone who comes from one of the greatest families in the kingdom. Let alone if he’s an Earl! I’ve got a few ideas in my head for another play right now. A small work about a pair of youngsters in love whose parents oppose the wedding. I’m going to call it Romauldo and Juslinda… Or perhaps Romeo and Juliet is better. We’ll see.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Other William by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE excerpt 2

Context:

William reveals to his servant Costrand that he is a playwright. He wants his plays to be performed, but cannot sign his own name to them because he is an Earl.

Sample text

WILLIAM:: You know what I spend most of my time doing, because you’re the one who sharpens my quills and brings me paper…
COSTRAND:: Yes, my lord.
WILLIAM:: And have you never asked yourself what I’m writing?
COSTRAND:: It is my lord the Earl’s own business. It doesn’t concern me.
WILLIAM:: Well, I’m going to divulge it to you. Poems, sonnets…
COSTRAND:: Son-whats?
WILLIAM:: But most of all, plays. With the intention that, one day, they’ll be performed by actors.
COSTRAND:: They say that actors are the devil’s messengers encouraging vices and bad habits.
WILLIAM:: That’s the reputation they’ve been given. Although there must indeed be something shameful about the theatre, since no nobleman could put his name to any of these compositions without damaging his dignity. Do you understand me?
COSTRAND:: Barely, my lord.
WILLIAM:: That’s why I find myself forced to conceal my identity and to make it so that someone else stands as author of these compositions. And I’ve decided that you’ll be signing them with your name.
COSTRAND:: Me, my lord? Costrand?
WILLIAM:: Costrand…
COSTRAND:: You mean to say that you would write and I would…? With all due respect, my lord, I don’t think that’s a good idea.
WILLIAM:: You’re going to disobey my orders?
COSTRAND:: God forbid, my lord. But we have a serious problem. I don’t know how to sign my name…
WILLIAM:: Are you that ignorant?
COSTRAND:: Or to read, or to write. I’ve been so busy in the service of my lord morning to night that I haven’t made time for the little things.
WILLIAM:: Not even if I guide your hand?
COSTRAND:: I’m too clumsy to take such care. Perhaps my mother. She’s a seamstress and can work miracles with a needle.
WILLIAM:: The things you come out with! A woman! That would be even more disgraceful than signing them myself.
COSTRAND:: Well you should look for someone else…
WILLIAM:: Who?
COSTRAND:: I don’t know anyone who knows how to write. Although, maybe…
WILLIAM:: Spit it out…
COSTRAND:: Among the company of actors who perform in the square, I’ve become friendly with one who’s from my mother’s village.
WILLIAM:: And which village is that?
COSTRAND:: Stratford, my lord. Stratford-upon-Avon.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Other William by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE excerpt 3

Context:

William meets Shakespeare, the young actor who will sign his name to William’s plays.

Sample text

WILLIAM:: You’re a ruffian, but you seem bright. What’s your surname?
SHAKESPEARE:: Shakspo or Shaksper. It’s written differently on every document. Spelling isn’t exactly the best among the scribes of my region.
WILLIAM:: Shaksp…? You can’t pronounce that without choking on your own tongue! Let’s see. Write it down.; SHAKESPEARE writes it down with his left hand.
WILLIAM:: Your handwriting’s terrible. You can hardly read it.
SHAKESPEARE:: It’s because I’m left-handed.
WILLIAM: (Picking up the page.): If we were to add an ‘e’ and combine the two words, we’d get Shakespeare… William Shakespeare. A difficult name that no one will remember. Although that’s not important. This is how you’ll sign my plays.
SHAKESPEARE:: But that would be a deception. A fraud that no decent man would undertake. Not, at least, for one pound. Make it one and a half.
WILLIAM:: One and a half pounds for a simple signature! One pound and a penny. I won’t go any higher.
SHAKESPEARE:: One pound and five pennies.
WILLIAM:: Two.
SHAKESPEARE:: Four.
WILLIAM:: Three and a half.
SHAKESPEARE:: Deal.; There is a short pause while WILLIAM takes a couple of piles of papers from the cupboard.
WILLIAM:: Here are two manuscripts. Bring them to your theatre director.
SHAKESPEARE:: He’ll throw them in my face, just like he did with my own ones. He’s terribly bad natured.
WILLIAM:: He won’t do that when he’s read them.
SHAKESPEARE:: And what if he doesn’t want to read them?
WILLIAM:: If necessary, kidnap him until he’s finished reading them.
SHAKESPEARE:: He’d throw me out of his company and I’d lose my job.
WILLIAM:: Quite the opposite. He’ll respect you more than ever.
SHAKESPEARE:: You think it’s that simple. I don’t know… I don’t know… (Taking a look at the manuscripts.) Love’s Labour’s Lost. Since when is love a labour?
WILLIAM:: That’s none of your concern…
SHAKESPEARE:: The Jew of Malta or Faust. Now, those are appealing titles. You should learn from the maestro Marlowe. (He reads the other title.) The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Where’s that in England?
WILLIAM:: It’s in Italy.
SHAKESPEARE:: And who’s going to care what happens in that country? You should change them. Take my advice, sir. I’m in the business and you’re just an amateur.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Other William by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO excerpt 1

Context:

After trying to murder his wife, the Countess, because of suspected adultery, William finds himself in court. His sister-in-law, the Widowed Countess, forces him to reveal the reason why he shuts himself away in his library writing.

Sample text

JUDGE:: Could you show this court the subject matter of these writings?
WILLIAM:: I’d prefer not to. Special circumstances. But I swear on my honour that they have no bearing on what I’m being accused of.
JUDGE:: I’m obliged to demand that you reveal their contents to the court.
WILLIAM:: Very well then. Plays. Comedies, dramas, tragedies…
JUDGE:: Plays?
WIDOWED COUNTESS:: For goodness sake, find a less ridiculous excuse.
JUDGE:: Show me your writings, my lord.
WILLIAM:: I don’t have them. You see… I gave them to someone.
JUDGE:: To whom?
WILLIAM:: Well… to an actor. So that he could stage them.
WIDOWED COUNTESS:: A peer of the realm mixing with scoundrels, villains and actors? The shame!
WILLIAM:: Actors are also subjects of Her Majesty.
WIDOWED COUNTESS:: The dregs of society! Only tolerated because they amuse us with their clowning.
COUNTESS:: They bore me.
WIDOWED COUNTESS:: You’re not talking about that Shakespeare, or whatever he’s called?
COUNTESS:: And who’s he?
WIDOWED COUNTESS:: An actor-poet. Quite well known.
COUNTESS:: Not by me.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Other William by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO excerpt 2

Context:

William asks Shakespeare to return his manuscripts. Shakespeare, however, refuses to do so, arguing that he is just as much author of the plays as William is.

Sample text

WILLIAM:: From now on you’ll have to make do with your own crow feathers. No more wearing the feathers of others, like a false peacock. You’ll have to satisfy your own vanity by writing your own plays, which will only show you up as even more of a fraud.
SHAKESPEARE:: They could never compare to those I’ve already produced.
WILLIAM:: You’ve seized honours and applause. You might even go down in history as a genius. But only my words and only my characters – not you, fraud! – deserve the fame that’s made you so conceited.
SHAKESPEARE:: But do you really think they would have received the public’s applause without my help? They might never even have made it to the stage. Because you, who never once left your sumptuous table, you washed your hands of your creatures like a superior and distant god. While I rearranged scenes, corrected mistakes, curtailed excesses, added when necessary. It’s possible that you were the one who conceived them, but I was the one who cared for them like they were my own daughters. I’ve made them grow. I’ve made them what they are. They’ve slept in my sleep, they’ve cried through my eyes, they’ve suffered and delighted with me. I am our characters. I’ve lived them, one by one, night after night. While you confined yourself to outlining it all on paper. They would have remained mere ghosts if I hadn’t given them life. Forgive my impudence, but sometimes I think that you – a great nobleman – and I – a poor actor… sometimes I think that life has turned us into two sides of the same coin.

Copyright