What’s past is prologue
Anytime you delve into a Shakespeare biography, youre treading on murky ground.
TNTsWillis not particularly concerned with historical accuracy.
The choices often sparkle with the wit of their subject.
Credit: Aidan Monaghan/TNT
With that in mind, lets look at five historical truths woven into the third episode ofWill.
The nature of Marlowes spying here hews closely to his biographical inconsistencies.
Its only natural, then, that we might see him playing both sides for his own gain.
Pay attention to Marlowes closest confidante (and lover), Sir Thomas Walsingham, cousin to spymaster Francis.
Southwell was a real Catholic priest and dissident, moving around safe houses in England and preaching Catholic doctrine.
On tonightsWill, Southwell embraces Will as a cousin.
in question might have been Shakespeare.
The most convincing argument for this?
They all share a common pattern, Will realizes.
Now his challenge is to choose his hero, quest, and setting.
The erstwhile Alice Burbage has the solution: Steal them; all the writers do it.
Their script would contain only their lines and their cues.
He even supposedly bought the second biggest house in Stratford in 1597.
Sigh no more, Alice.
