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When the plague steals 11-year-old Hamnet from his loving parents, Agnes and William Shakespeare, they must each confront their loss alone. And yet, out of the greatest suffering, something of extraordinary wonder is born. Experience the US premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “elegant and beguiling” stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabar and directed by Erica Whyman
SF/Arts Curator Insight
First a novel by Maggie O’Farrell, then a film, this drama about Shakespeare and his wife, the spiritually gifted Agnes, and the death of their son, Hamnet, finally reaches the stage. The heartbreaking, exhilarating story of two parents facing their grief separately seems meant for the theatre. Adapted by playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, it features some of the actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s premiere. It begins its stateside tour at American Conservatory Theater.
Jean Schiffman
Contributing Writer, Theater
American Conservatory Theater - ACT
Under the leadership of Tony Award-winning Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon and Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein, A.C.T.’s mission is to engage the spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area, activate stories that resonate, promote a diversity of voices and points of view, and empower theater makers and audiences to celebrate liveness.
Under the leadership of Tony Award-winning Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon and Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein, A.C.T.’s mission is to engage the spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area, activate stories that resonate, promote a diversity of voices and points of view, and empower theater makers and audiences to celebrate liveness.