←Recommendations of The Poet, The Spy, and the Dark Lady

A gorgeously written imagining of the friendship and romance between Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Emilia Bassano. The script weaves together artistic passion, political intrigue, and forbidden love with language worthy of its subjects. This script will appeal to history buffs and causal theatre goers alike.

A polished, multilayered, and delightful reimagining which has Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe and The Dark Lady as a polyamorous throuple in London. Political intrigue, conflicting agendas, and forces beyond their control act upon the three loving people who just want to be together and create. McClain deftly shifts between intrigue, comedy, and romance with a great eye for detail, an ear for dialogue that is period-seeming but not contrived-sounding, and an assured sense of pace and tone.

We have heard this story before: who really inspired and wrote Shakespeare's plays? Many theories abound: some are outlandish (the Klingons), some are dryly scholarly; maybe it was just Shakespeare alone. That doesn't mean that a stylish and well-crafted tale with intriguing and fully-drawn characters can't be told. Emily McClain's deft, witty, and fast-paced drama with true consideration for both history and informed speculation -- not to mention a certain amount of sex appeal -- makes the case that another shadowy figure had a hand in them. In the reading at Valdez, it was a fun and heartfelt play.

What a delight to encounter a script about Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Bassano which actually does justice to them - presenting them not as bland historical figures in some costume drama, or (shudder) as pawns in some ridiculous conspiracy, but as engaging, richly detailed, flesh-and-blood human beings. Which is not to say that this isn't a costume drama about a conspiracy - about several, actually, all of them doozies - but that everything stems naturally from these complicated, fully realized people. A blast.

I read an early draft of this play and am anxious to see it developed to an eventual performance. In 1611, Emilia Bassano Lanier became the first Englishwoman to publicly identify as a poet. Here, she’s presented as a playwright with two famous colleagues. An intriguing triangle and a wonderful reimagining of the authorship debate with a bit of spy craft added for good measure.

There are a lot of stories out there about Shakespeare, but this is one of my favorites. Emily McClain weaves fact, circumstantial evidence, and fiction into a completely engaging story about a trio of lovers - who just happen to be William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Emilia Bassano. We see the struggles they each go through individually when they're apart, and how well the complement each other artistically when they're together. I did a lot of googling when I finished reading this, to try to find out how much of it is true. This is historical fiction at its best!

THE POET, THE SPY, AND THE DARK LADY beautifully imagines a relationship between William Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe, and Emilia Bassano. Emily McClain evokes passion and intrigue as these three get embroiled in courtly espionage. Heartbreaking and breathtaking, this is a play to watch out for!

I got to attend an early reading of the script and it is already an amazing piece. I look forward to seeing the further development of this piece. Highly Recommended!