SWAGGER CAST OF CHARACTERS

WILL SHAKESPEARE, male, 36 years old, the greatest playwright of his time, the smartest man in the room, brash, curious, self-assured, and not always as self-aware as he thinks he is.

ABDUL GUAHID, male, 42 years old, the Muslim Ambassador from Morocco, a self-made man, confident, cautious, conflicted, a consummate diplomat with deep reserves of feeling.

RICHARD BURBAGE, male, 32 years old, the greatest actor of his time (and he makes sure everyone knows it) and Will Shakespeare’s boisterous best friend.

QUEEN ELIZABETH I, female, 67 years old, the most powerful ruler of her time, shrewdly political and able to incisively “read” each person she meets.

ROBERT CECIL, male, 37 years old, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth I, ruthlessly ambitious, physically disabled but refuses to be defined by it; he wields considerable power at Court.

EL-DODAR, male, mid-40s, interpreter for Abdul Guahid, a Muslim of Spanish birth, protectively devoted to Guahid.

ANNE HATHAWAY, female, 44 years old, Will’s wife, mother of Will’s three children.

HAMNET SHAKESPEARE, male, 11 years old, Will’s only son, bursting with life.

BEATRICE, female, early 20s, maid to John de Critz, eager to please, with a Cockney accent.

ROSALIND, female, early 20s, a servant girl with ambition, in our times she would be known as a “groupie.”

MOROCCANS, five males, mid-20s to early 30s, Muslim dignitaries named as emissaries by the King of Morocco.

VENDOR, female, early 20s.

LONDONERS, three females, mid-20s to mid-60s.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MEN:

EDMUND SHAKESPEARE, male, 20 years old, Will’s younger brother, an actor.

SAMUEL GILBOURNE, male, 16 years old, an exceptionally pretty young man who plays the major female characters in Shakespeare’s plays.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN #1 (the Tragedian/Horatio), male, early 30s, an earnest actor who conveys emotional truth.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN #2 (the Fool/Gravedigger), male, early 60s, a comic actor with a sly, mischievous nature.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN #3, male, early 20s, an actor.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN #4, male, mid-40s, an actor.

THOMAS UNDERWOOD, male, 11 years old, a new apprentice to the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, his shyness hides an exuberant nature.

*Members of THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MEN will also play the following male roles:

JOHN DE CRITZ, male, 49 years old, a Court painter and devious snob.

SPY #1, male, mid-20s.

SPY #2, male, mid-20s.

A BOY MESSENGER, male, 16 years old.

A COURTIER, male, mid-30s.

COUNCILOR #1, male, mid-30s.

COUNCILOR #2, male, mid-50s.

COUNCILOR #3, male, mid-60s.

VENDOR, male, mid-20s.

LONDONERS, seven males, 11 years old to mid-60s.

A GUARD, male, early 30s.

AN ARISTOCRATIC YOUNG MAN, male, mid-20s.