A delightful melange of science fiction, historical drama, coming-of-age story, and enough Shakespearean deep cuts to warm the coldest dramaturg's heart. Cross has invented her own genre of Elizabethan-age steampunk ("humourpunk?" "Lizpunk?") to tell the secret origin story of the alchemically-created automaton who went on to become William Shakespeare. In so doing, she has crafted a moving meditation on one of the great paradoxes of the arts - that in seeking to understand what it means to be human, we turn to the works of creators who were awkwardly figuring it out themselves. A blast.

A riff on the Frankenstein mythos, a speculative Shakespearean tale, and a coming-of-age story rolled into one delightful and surprisingly poignant package. I don’t generally care about Shakespeare, and sci-fi can be a hard sell for me, but the theme of wanting to be an independent person on your own terms while learning to articulate and define thorny human emotions resonated profoundly here. I was deeply engaged by William’s quest to become the person (or automaton) he was meant to become. I highly recommend this play for theaters seeking an accessible yet moving new play.

Adore this. Shakespeare a wooden robot? Cross "require[s] you do awake your faith"! And you will. Like Shakespeare in Love, you'll fall in love with Shakespeare all the more in his automaton form as he develops from "petty verses" to the "wonder of our stage" and somehow becomes "more completely human". The allusions throughout will keep lovers of the Bard's words amused and delighted. It's part Frankenstein, part Tempest, part alchemist Fantasy. Audiences and writers will adore as well. It's classic and timely all at once. (I really want to see that "goofy fellow with the dog" ;)