UNCLE WILL PRODUCTIONS
WHEN THAT I WAS
AUDIENCE ENRICHMENT GUIDE
UNCLE WILL PRODUCTIONS
www.unclewillproductions.com
chris@unclewillproductions.com
CONTENTS
1. Overview ................................................................................ 3
2. Historical Context ................................................................. 3
3. People, Places and Things in the Play................................ 4
Real People in the play ...................................................... 4
Places mentioned in the play ............................................ 8
Things referred to in the play......................................... 10
4. Plays, Character & Sonnets Quoted in the Play ............. 11
5. Other Quotes and Phrases Used in the Play .................. 12
6. Timeline of Events Related to the Play ........................... 14
7. About the Playwrights of WHEN THAT I WAS ........... 15
8. Production Credits for WHEN THAT I WAS ................ 16
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WHEN THAT I WAS
AU D I E N C E E N R I C H M E N T G U I D E
1. OVERVIEW
John Mortimer and Edward Atienza are the co-writers of the play WHEN THAT I WAS. The play
could be described as ‘autobiographical fiction’, and takes place in the year 1650. The story centers
on Jack Rice, an old man who was once a part of Shakespeare’s acting company. At this time in
history, the Puritans (a strict religious group, powerful in the 16th and 17th centuries) have closed the
theatres, and the acting troupe is gone. Jack shares memories of better times, giving us an insider’s
view of Shakespeare’s spirited company. While historical in its setting, the play has much to say about
the present. It speaks of aging, of homelessness, and of the joyful role the arts can play in a
community. As an aging artist lost in a world that has moved on, Jack Rice speaks to the need for
beauty and meaning in a world that sometimes lacks both.
Even though Shakespeare’s plays and poems are well-known, not a lot is known about the day-to-day
life of Shakespeare and his troupe of actors in The Globe Theatre. The writers of WHEN THAT I
WAS - John Mortimer and Edward Atienza - have taken some of the few facts that are known about
that time (as well as some scholarly theories), and imagined possible scenarios that led to some of
Shakespeare’s enduring works of literature. We watch as Jack relives his memory of those people and
that very special time in history. We also see the results of what happened immediately after
Shakespeare’s time, when the Puritans took over England.
2 . HISTORICAL CONTEXT
WHEN THAT I WAS is set in 1650, which was a very desperate time for theatres and performers.
Here is a timeline that will give you a sense of some of the major historical events that happened in
the years surrounding the play.
1642: Civil War breaks out in England. Under the force of the Puritans (led by Oliver Cromwell),
the English Parliament issues an ordinance suppressing all stage plays in the theatres
1644: The Globe Theatre is demolished by the Puritans
1647: Even stricter rules are passed regarding stage plays and theatres
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1648: All playhouses are ordered to be pulled down. All players (actors) are to be seized and
whipped, and anyone caught attending a play will be fined five shillings
1649: The Civil War leads to the execution of King Charles I
1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England
1658: Cromwell dies and the power of the Puritan starts to decline
1660: King Charles II is restored to the throne of England. With the Restoration of the English
monarchy in 1660, the theatres finally open again (Source: william-shakespeare.info)
3. PEOPLE , PLACES & THINGS IN WHEN THAT I WAS
REAL PEOPLE IN THE PLAY
Below is a list of real people that are mentioned in WHEN THAT I WAS. Note that characters in the
play often have nicknames or alternate forms for their given names - Jack instead of John, Will
instead of William, Dick instead of Richard, Kit instead of Christopher, Hal instead of Henry, etc.
John (Jack) Rice - English actor, a member of the King’s Men and one of the 26 men listed in the
First Folio as the ‘Principall Actors’ in Shakespeare’s plays. As a boy actor, Rice was the apprentice of
John Heminge in 1607. He is thought to have been considered the best boy actor in the company,
for twice, in 1607 and 1610, the King’s Men paired him with their leading actor, Richard Burbage,
when they provided players for ceremonial occasions. In 1611, Rice was a member of the Lady
Elizabeth’s Men, but he rejoined the King’s Men in 1619. No record of Rice as an actor has survived
after 1625, but he is probably the “John Rice, clerk of St Saviour’s” mentioned by Heminge in his
will (1630), so it appears that he retired from the stage and became a church official. (Source: The
Wordsworth Dictionary of Shakespeare)
William (Uncle Will) Shakespeare (April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616) was an English poet and
playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent
dramatist. His surviving works, including some collaborations,
consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and
several other epitaphs and poems. His plays have been
translated into every major living language and are performed
more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon.
At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he
had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London
as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called
the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men.
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William Shakespeare
He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few
records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been
considerable speculation about much of his life. His plays remain
highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and
reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout
the world. (Source: Wikipedia)
Richard (Dick) Burbage (c. 1568-1619) - The leading actor of
the Chamberlain’s Men and the original portrayer of many of
Shakespeare’s protagonists. Burbage is said to have been one of
the greatest actors of the Elizabethan Theatre. Burbage most
likely played Hamlet, Lear, Malvolio, Othello and Richard III,
and probably many more major Shakespearean roles. (Source:
Wordsworth Dictionary of Shakespeare)
Richard Burbage
Alexander (Alex) Cooke, Samuel (Sam) Crosse, Nathan
Field - English actors, three of the 26 men listed in the First Folio as the ‘Principall Actors’ of
Shakespeare’s plays. Note: no information was found on William Bell, who is also mentioned in the
play. (Source: Wordsworth Dictionary)
William (Will) Kempe (1560-1603) Jester, actor, dancer, singer,
comedian. Famous for his comic dancing. Comic star of Lord
Chamberlain’s Men. Famous as Falstaff in HENRY IV. Was an
original investor in The Globe but left the company (just as The
Globe was being built) for The Rose Theatre, after doing a stunt
where he Morris danced from London to Norwich in nine days - a
distance of over 100 miles - which became known as the 9 Days
Wonder.
Will Kempe
Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (1564-1593) - the foremost
tragedian of his age, known for his towering blank verse
and his mysterious death. Possibly a spy, probably a
homosexual, suspected of being a Catholic - or an atheist or something nefarious. His friends were being arrested on
charges of libel in 1593 when he was stabbed to death, by a
cut to the eye, in a house owned by Eleanor Bull. A
drunken brawl. Or was it revenge? Or was it political? An
assassination? Who knows.
Marlowe’s play DR. FAUSTUS was in the repertoire of the
Admiral’s Men from at least 1594. It was very popular, and
considered racy and daring for its devilish themes.
Christopher Marlowe
Mistress Eleanor Bull (c. 1550-1596) - was an English woman who is known for owning the
establishment in which Christopher Marlowe was killed in 1593. The house was on Deptford Strand,
which was in Kent, but is now within London. It operated as a form of hotel or rooming house in
which meals were served. (Source: Wikipedia)
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Henry Wriothesely (Hal Southampton) - Third Earl of Southampton
and Baron Tichfield in the Peerage of England (1573-1624) - As a young
man, he was recognized as one of the most handsome and accomplished
of all the young lords who flocked around Queen Elizabeth I. His great
wealth was freely distributed among several poetic protégés. He went to
Ireland with the Earl of Essex in 1599. Essex made him General of the
Horse, but Queen Elizabeth insisted the appointment be cancelled, and
he returned to London. After being arrested for plotting against the
Queen, he was lucky to escape execution, and spent three years in the
Tower. Later, under the rule of King James, he received numerous
honours.
Henry Wriothesely
The Dark Lady (The Justice’s Wife) - Some scholars have speculated
(Hal Southampton)
that Amelia Lanier (born Aemilia Bassano), an apparently striking
woman, was Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady” (though there are several other
theories and possibilities). Shakespeare’s claim that his Dark Lady was "forsworn" to another in
Sonnet 152 fits Lanier’s relationship with her husband, Henry Carey (Lord Hunsdon), who was also
Chief Justice in Eyre, and forty-five years older than her. Commentators have concluded that it
cannot be just coincidence that in Shakespeare’s two Venetian plays, there is an Emilia in one
(OTHELLO) and a Bassan(i)o in the other (THE MERCHANT OF VENICE). In addition in TITUS
ANDRONICUS there is an Aemilius and a Bassianus. (Source: Wikipedia)
Hamnet Shakespeare (1585-1596) - Shakespeare’s only son, and twin of Shakespeare’s daughter
Judith. Died at eleven years old due to unknown causes, and was buried in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Many scholars believe that Shakespeare’s writing was influenced by his son’s
death.
Queen Elizabeth I - The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth
was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. It was expected that
Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the Tudor line. She
never did, however, despite numerous courtships. As she grew older, Elizabeth
became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was
celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth's reign is
known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English
drama, led by playwrights such as Shakespeare and Marlowe, and for the seafaring
prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake. (Source: Wikipedia)
Queen Elizabeth I
Anne Hathaway (1555/56-1623) was Shakespeare’s wife. They were married in
1582. She outlived her husband by seven years. Very little is known about her beyond a few
references in legal documents, but her personality and relationship to Shakespeare have been the
subject of much speculation by historians and creative writers. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Earl Of Essex (Robert Devereux) (1565-1601)- was an English nobleman and a favourite of
Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest
following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years’ War in 1599. In 1601 he led an abortive
coup d’état against the government and was executed for treason on 25 February 1601. He was the
last person to be beheaded in the Tower of London. It was reported to have taken three strokes by
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the executioner to complete the beheading. Shakespeare’s troupe did in fact perform at the palace for
Queen Elizabeth the day before Essex’ execution. (Source: Wikipedia)
King James I - Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature
and drama continued, with Shakespeare (and others) contributing to a
flourishing literary culture. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that was
named after him: the AUTHORIZED KING JAMES VERSION. The word
"Jacobean" is derived from Jacobus, the Latin form of the English name
James.
Doctor Hall (1575-1635) - Shakespeare’s respectable, prosperous son-inKing James I
law, married to his daughter Susanna - they inherited most of his fortune
and were the executors of his will. Dr. John Hall was a Puritan, and apparently a really good doctor.
He figured out an effective cure for scurvy made from local grasses and plants high in ascorbic acid,
over one hundred years before James Lind’s discovery that the disease could be treated with lemon
juice. When Susanna herself contracted scurvy, John’s treatment was a complete success.
“The Popish King Of Spain” - King Phillip II of Spain played a major
role in English history at the time of the Tudors. He had been married to
Mary I and was a staunch Catholic. It was the quarrel between Phillip of
Spain and Queen Elizabeth I that led to the Spanish Armada being sent to
England. He was a very powerful emperor, his lands spreading not only
throughout Spain but also throughout much of Europe: his inheritance
being much of Holland, Austria and other parts of the 'Low Countries'.
(Source: schoolshistory.org.uk)
Jack Rice’s Mother – Little is known of Jack Rice’s mother. In the play,
she dies of the plague.
King Philip II
Mother Parker - Shakespeare’s London landlady.
Lord Chief Justice – the Lord Chief Justice sentences the traitors Essex & Southampton.
Child Actors Of Saint Paul’s - a group of choirboys who gave public performances, and also
performed plays upon command for the Court. Queen Elizabeth was a big fan of theirs. Shakespeare
writes a complaint about them into HAMLET. Obviously the professional working theatre people of
London were dismayed at the success of these cheeky child performers.
The Apothecary - a historical name for a medical professional who
formulates and dispenses medicine to doctors & patients - a
pharmacist. Apothecaries also offered medical advice, some surgeries,
midwifery, as well as selling tobacco. (Source: Wikipedia) Shakespeare’s
Dark Lady agrees to meet him above the Apothecary’s Shop.
Sexton - a church officer charged with the maintenance of the church
buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. Duties could include
digging graves. Basically, a janitor. This is the job that Old Jack Rice has
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An Apothecary
just before the play starts.
Puritans - A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of disparate
religious groups advocating for more “purity” of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group
piety. Puritans felt that the English Reformation (when Henry VIII left the Catholic Church and took
England with him) had not gone far enough, and that the Church of England was too tolerant of
practices that they associated with the church of Rome.
Halberdier - a foot soldier named for his weapon, a long-handled poleax
used against horsemen. In the modern era, the halberdier's role is largely
ceremonial, most famously serving as the Pope's Vatican guard. In medieval
and Renaissance times, however, halberdiers were celebrated warriors who
were the primary defense against armored cavalry before the introduction
of firearms. (Source: stjathenaeum.org) In the play, Halberdiers take
Shakespeare away after the Essex Rebellion.
Groundlings - The poorer audience at Shakespeare’s theatre, traditionally
seen as boisterous. Groundlings would pay one penny (which was almost
an entire day's wage) to stand in front of the stage, while the richer patrons
would sit in the covered galleries, paying as much as half a crown each for
their seats. (Source: shakespeare-online.com)
A Halberdier
Gentles - one of good birth or relatively high station.
PLACES MENTIONED IN THE PLAY
“St. Barnabas Without” - an actual (though old-fashioned) name of a church in South London.
Vestry - a room in or attached to a church in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc. are kept, and
where the clergy and choir robe put on their robes and vestments for divine service. (Source:
Wikipedia)
Tiring Room - In Shakespeare's day, the actors waited and dressed in the tiring room (or tiring
house). Here’s a quote from Peter Quince in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM:
“Pat, pat; and here's a marvelous convenient place for our rehearsal. This green plot shall be our
stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house; and we will do it in action as we will do it before the
duke.”
Grave Trap - an oblong trap door in the stage, downstage centre, traditional to Elizabethan theatre.
Possibly named for its most famous use, as an open grave in the graveyard scene from HAMLET .
Minstrel’s Gallery - In the play, King James and Southampton are seen from the minstrel’s gallery a form of balcony, often inside a manor or great hall, used to allow musicians to perform, sometimes
discreetly hidden from the guests below. (Source: Wikipedia)
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The Old Rose Theatre - The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre
built in 1587, and the first of several playhouses to be situated in
Bankside, outside the City of London’s jurisdiction. It was the first
purpose-built playhouse to ever stage a production of any of
Shakespeare's plays, and was earlier known for performances of
Christopher Marlowe’s plays. A replica of The Rose Theatre was
featured in the film SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and after many
years in storage, there are plans to rebuild it in the North of
England. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Rose Theatre
The Globe Theatre - The Globe Theatre is a site in London that is
often associated with William Shakespeare. Built in 1599 by the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, it was an open-air amphitheater that could
house 3000 spectators. Shakespeare’s company did daytime matinees
in order to take advantage of daylight, which was their main source
of illumination. During a performance of HENRY VIII in 1613, the
theatre went up in flames and was rebuilt the following year. Like all
other theatres in London, the Puritans closed it in 1642. (Source:
timetourclassicaltheatre.weebly.com)
Deptford Strand - on the banks of the Thames in Greenwich,
South East London.
The Globe Theatre
Cheapside - a district of downtown London. Cheapside was the site of the
produce markets in Shakespeare’s time, and one of the busiest
thoroughfares in London. Traditionally the ‘cockney’ neighbourhood - commercial and lively, but not
totally reputable. Shakespeare used Cheapside as the setting for several bawdy scenes in HENRY IV,
PART I.
Blackfriars - is a more upmarket neighbourhood nearby, the site of the indoor theatre that
Shakespeare’s troupe ended up renting in an old priory, directly across the river from The Globe.
They successfully used it as their winter playhouse until all the theatres were closed in 1642 when the
English Civil War began.
Bishopsgate - an area in the northeast of London, named after one of the original seven gates in
London’s wall. In Shakespeare’s time, the gate often displayed the heads of criminals on spikes.
Bishopsgate was also a district of inns and theatres.
Moorgate - a gate in the London wall (demolished in 1762), also the nearby area. One of the last
pieces of open land in London at that time. A suburb on the outskirts in Jack’s day.
St. Albans - a city about 35 kms north of central London.
Southampton House In Holborn - located in one of the earliest squares in London, originally
called Southampton Square, now called Bloomsbury Square. The house occupied the whole north
side of the square.
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THINGS REFERRED TO IN THE PLAY
“Small Beer” - beer with little alcohol, for breakfast say, or for children and servants. They drank
beer instead of water to avoid cholera and other water-transmitted diseases – the process of making
the beer involved boiling, which eliminated pathogens.
“Oxter” - the armpit, and the location of several lymph nodes. Jack’s Mother, infected with the
plague, had a “swelling under the oxter.”
“Fine Lawn” - the handkerchief that Jack’s Mother gave him was made of fine lawn - a finely
woven, silky, semi-transparent linen cloth.
“Arras” - a wall hanging or tapestry. In HAMLET, Polonius hides behind the arras (Act II, scene ii).
“Halberd” - a two-handed pole weapon (1.5 metres long),
with an axe-blade topped with a spike mounted on a long
shaft. A hook or spike on the other side of the blade was used
to attack men on horseback. Used by infantry and also by the
royal bodyguard.
“Broadsheet” - In the play, Shakespeare’s wife and daughter
purchase one of his sonnets from a common pedlar, printed
A Halberd
on a broadsheet. Originally, a broadsheet was a single page the size
of a modern newspaper page, sold in single sheets on the street, printed with ballads or satirical
material.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Shakespeare probably wrote this sequence of 154 sonnets over several
years. They were first published as a complete set in 1609.
The first 17 sonnets are written to a young man, the ‘fair youth’, urging him to marry and have
children, and thus pass down his beauty to a new generation. Mostly though they express the poet’s
love for the young man.
They are followed by a sequence of sonnets written to the poet’s mistress, called ‘the dark lady’
because her hair is described as dark rather than fair. They are explicitly sexual in nature. It is implied
that the poet and the mistress had a passionate affair, but that she was unfaithful, perhaps with the
Fair Youth. Many possibilities have been suggested, but no one has been able to identify either the
Fair Youth or the Dark Lady for sure.
The last series of sonnets deals with miscellaneous subjects, including the world’s censure, etc.
The Essex Rebellion - As described in WHEN THAT I WAS, on February 7 1601, Shakespeare's
RICHARD II was presented at the Globe playhouse, a performance especially arranged by those
hoping to overthrow Queen Elizabeth the following day. Followers of the Earl of Essex had
approached Shakespeare's company the previous week with a promise of forty shillings to
supplement ticket sales, thereby overcoming the company's objections that the lines for RICHARD
II were rusty and that a revival was unlikely to be popular. In the play, Richard II goes to Ireland to
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oversee the war there, and Bolingbroke, one of his rivals, returns from exile and seizes England. He
imprisons Richard and crowns himself Henry IV.
The rebels' hope that RICHARD II would inflame support for their cause was a long-shot, but not
impossible. As a play about rebellion and king-killing it had certainly caused a stir in high places, as
the deposition scene had been cut from early printings and prohibited on stage. Essex apparently
loved the play, had often been seen applauding wildly at it, and was happy to be thought of by his
followers as a Bolingbroke-type savior. (Source: todayinliterature.com)
4. PLAY S, CHARACTERS & SONNETS QU OTED IN THE PLAY
TWELFTH NIGHT (originally titled - and now subtitled - WHAT YOU WILL)
Feste: “When that I was...” (Act V, scene i)
KING LEAR
Lear: “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”
“I am a man more sinned against than sinning.” (Act III, scene ii)
“Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar? (Act IV, scene vi)
Fool: “When that I was...” (Act V, scene i)
RICHARD III
Lady Anne: “Set down, set down your honourable load...”
Gloster: “He lives that loves thee better than he could...” (Act I, scene ii)
ROMEO & JULIET
Chorus: “Two households, both alike in dignity...” (Prologue)
Romeo: “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven... (Act II, scene ii)
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Titania: The faery land buys not the child of me!” (Act II, scene i)
Puck: “What, out of hearing? Then I perceive you are not nigh.” (Act II, scene ii)
“If we shadows have offended...” (Epilogue) (Robin Goodfellow is another name for Puck the
fairy servant. It’s a traditional name given to a mischievous fairy trickster in English folklore.)
RICHARD II
King Richard: “For god sake let us sit upon the ground...” (Act III, scene ii)
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“To do what service am I sent for hither?”
Edmund: “The resignation of thy state and crown.”(Act IV, scene i)
HENRY IV, PART 2
Francis Feeble: “A man can die but once...” (Act III, scene ii)
HAMLET
Ophelia: “They say the owl was a baker’s daughter...” (Act IV, scene v)
Gertrude: “He’s fat, and scant of breath...” (Act V, scene ii) (This is the line that Jack Rice refers
to when he says Shakespeare wrote a line to explain Burbage’s fatness.)
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Portia: “The quality of mercy is not strain’d...” (Act IV, scene i)
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
Cleopatra: “Give me my robe... I have immortal longings in me...” (Act V, scene ii)
SONNET 94
“Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”
SONNET 144
“Two loves I have, of comfort and despair...”
5. OTHER QUOTES AND P HRASES USED IN THE PLAY
“Three score and ten” - The play takes place on Jack Rice’s 70th birthday. In Old English, a score
is equal to the number 20, so three score and ten adds up to 70, which has often been referred to the
span of a life. From THE BIBLE (Psalm 90): “The days of our years are threescore years and ten...”
“Absit” - from the Latin, meaning: to be away from, be absent. Sometimes a short form of Absit
Omen - let this not be a bad omen. Expresses the wish that something seemingly ill-boding does not
turn out to be an omen for future events, and calls on divine protection against evil. (wikipedia) Jack
quotes it in speaking about Will Kempe, the Jester of Shakespeare’s company.
“All flesh is as the grass” - from THE BIBLE - Old Testament - Isaiah 40:6 and New Testament 1 Peter 1:24. In both cases the phrase is interpreted to mean that human life is transitory. Basically,
flesh is temporary and will, like grass, live for a season, and then die. The imagery points to the
futility of putting ones faith in things that are temporal and subject to decay, and to put one's faith in
God. Jack remembers Alex Cooke (the Puritan actor in the company) always quoting this phrase, as
well as the following one...
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“Wine is a betrayer” - While not an actual quote from THE BIBLE, there are several Bible passages
denouncing wine, such as Proverbs 20:1 - “Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler whoever is lead
astray by them is not wise.”
“The year of the plague” - Carried by fleas living on the fur of rats, the bubonic plague swept
through London in 1563, 1578-9, 1582, 1592-3, and 1603 - the one referred to in WHEN THAT I
WAS occurred in 1592-93. Once contracted, the odds of survival were around fifty percent.
Symptoms would include red, grossly inflamed and swollen lymph nodes, called buboes (hence the
name bubonic), high fever, delirium, and convulsions. However, if the bacterial infection spread to
the lungs (pneumonic plague) or to the bloodstream (septicemic plague) the unfortunate victim
would certainly die, usually within hours with symptoms too horrific to recount. Shakespeare
mentions plague in several plays, including THE TEMPEST , TIMON OF ATHENS, and KING
LEAR. (Source: shakespeare-online.com)
“...a reluctant Cressida and you are playing his Pandarus” - Hal Southampton says this in
reference to Jack helping Uncle Will hook up with his Dark Lady. Shakespeare’s TROILUS AND
CRESSIDA is based on Trojan myths in which Pandarus is the lascivious intermediary between
Cressida and Troilus. This is the origin of the verb ‘to pander.’
“humming a catch” - a catch is a witty ‘round’ or ‘canon’ song, and often innuendo-laden or lewd.
“near the end as the mechanicals did their clownish play” - Jack tells us about the comic
performance of PYRAMUS AND THISBE, the play put on by Nick Bottom and the mechanicals in A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Act V).
“the changeling boy” - In A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, the fairy royals Titania and
Oberon fight about a changeling boy that Titania has basically adopted. Oberon is jealous and wants
the boy to join his cadets. Their quarrel triggers the whole action of the play. Hamnet shows an
interest in the changeling boy, probably since he can relate - his parents live separately as well.
“remember Puck: I go, I go; look how I go” - When Shakespeare’s son Hamnet becomes ill,
Shakespeare tries to cheer him up by reminding him of Puck in the play Hamnet recently saw (A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Act III, scene ii).
“When that I was...” - this song appears twice in Shakespeare’s work. The wise and melancholy
jester Feste sings it in the epilogue of TWELFTH NIGHT, and the Fool sings a slightly different
version in KING LEAR (Act III, scene ii). The critic Welsford says, “Meaningless, illogical as it is, the
old folk-rhyme, with its recurrent refrain and plaintive melody, conveys a suggestion of regret for
youth, for the fading of romance into hard reality, where fools no longer lead the revels...”.
“For our old Queen, at last, death was no matter of playacting.” On March 24, 1603, Queen
Elizabeth’s forty-four year reign came to an end. After months of depression and failing health, she
lost all will to love, refusing to eat and losing the ability to speak. She slipped into a coma and died at
age 69.
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6. TIMELINE OF EVENTS RELATED TO THE PLAY
1559-1603: the reign of Queen Elizabeth I - “The Elizabethan Era”
1564: William Shakespeare born (so was Christopher Marlowe)
1580: Jack Rice born (Shakespeare is 16 years older)
1585-1592: Shakespeare moves to London and starts work at the Rose Theatre
1592-93: The first run of RICHARD III starring Richard Burbage
1593: Outbreak of plague - Jack’s Mom dies. Theatres often closed during plagues
May 30, 1593: Christopher Marlowe murdered at an Inn in Deptford
1594-95: ROMEO AND JULIET premiered
1595-96: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and RICHARD II premiered
1596: Hamnet Shakespeare dies and is buried in Stratford
1599: Shakespeare’s troupe opens the newly constructed Globe Theatre in Southward, just outside
the official city limits of London. They found the company as a ‘co-op’ in which 5 principals,
including Burbage and Shakespeare, have shares
1601: RICHARD II revived at The Globe for one night, commissioned by Essex (and Southampton)
for 40 shillings. Essex Rebellion and Essex execution
1603: Queen Elizabeth I dies and is succeeded by James I (formerly James IV of Scotland).
Shakespeare’s troupe (formerly “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” is made “The King’s Men”. James
reigned from 1603 to 1625 - known as The Jacobean Era
1608: KING LEAR produced
1609: Shakespeare’s sonnets published as a complete set for the first time
1616: Shakespeare dies in Stratford
1625: Charles I succeeds James I on the throne. Charles I reigned 1625-1649
1642: Under Charles, the Puritan parliament issued an ordinance banning all stage plays. (In fact,
though not in our play, they demolished the Globe Theatre in 1644.) In the end, Charles was arrested
and executed by Puritan factions who established The Commonwealth of England - 1648-1660
1650: Jack Rice, 70 years old, creeps into the abandoned Globe Theatre, now used to stable livestock,
and shares his memories of better times
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7. THE PLAYWRIGHTS
JOHN MORTIMER (1923-2009) was a prolific British writer for theatre, television, radio and
films - he started during World War II, when he wrote scripts for the Crown Film Unit. He also
wrote fiction and was a trial attorney for more than 30 years. Mortimer is best remembered for
RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY and the autobiographical A VOYAGE R OUND MY FATHER.
In 1977, Mortimer wrote the historical novel WILL SHAKESPEARE . On the first page inside the
cover is the following subtitle and explanation - “The Comical, Tragical History of WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE (with an Account of his Conquests and Passions, Jealousies and Hatreds, Struggles and
Successes), as narrated by Jack Rice, one time Boy Actor in Shakespeare’s Company.”
“With diverse Supporting Roles played by his Wife, Mistress Anne Hathaway; that ranting King of
Actors, Dick Burbage; the Dark lady with her wanton wiles, who did play no small part in
Shakespeare’s Sonnets - and in his Lusts; My Fine Lord Southampton, who tempted Will to silken
sheets and sinful pleasures, but inspired much Poetry-Making. And the Great Globe itself, whose
‘Wooden O’ did see enacted such Drama and Disaster.”
In 1978, Mortimer wrote a six part television series entitled WILL SHAKESPEARE (based on his
novel), starring a young Tim Curry as Shakespeare, and Ian McShane as Christopher Marlowe.

EDWARD (TEDDY) ATIENZA is a veteran Ontario-based actor - now retired in Stratford,
Ontario. He was born in 1924 in London, England and studied acting at the London Academy of
Music and Dramatic Art, making his professional stage debut in the role of the Butler in a 1949
production of UP IN MABEL ’S ROOM. He first appeared in London in 1954 as Mole in TOAD OF
TOAD HALL. Atienza debuted on Broadway in 1957’s ROMANOFF AND JULIET and has
performed on British, American, and Canadian stages, as well as in film. In Canada, Edward Atienza
has performed at several of the country's major venues, including the Shaw Festival, the Stratford
Festival, the National Arts Centre, the Stephenville Theatre Festival and most of the regional
theatres.
In 1981, Teddy Atienza approached John Mortimer about developing and performing a one-man
play based on Mortimer’s novel, and Mortimer then wrote a draft of the play. In rehearsal, Teddy
worked with the script and made it his own, and so he shares the writing credit with Mortimer. The
play premiered at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in early 1982. The show then played Ontario’s
Stratford Festival in the 1983 season. Teddy later toured the play to Calgary’s Alberta Theatre
Projects (ATP) in 1986 and Winnipeg’s Manitoba Theatre Centre in 1989.
The script then sat in a drawer for almost 20 years, and it wasn't revived until The Shakespeare
Company’s production in 2008, which received two of Calgary’s Betty Mitchell Awards - Vanessa
Porteous for Best Director and Christopher Hunt for Best Actor. The play was then revived for
another Calgary run in 2012, and the hope is to continue sharing this beautiful piece of theatre near
and far for years to come.
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The actor performing in this production (Christopher Hunt) met Teddy Atienza a few years ago. He
had this to say about the encounter:
“After our 2008 run finished, I went to Stratford and visited Teddy one afternoon, and I had the best
time, just listening to his stories, and hearing about this show that meant so much to him. He was
incredibly touched that we brought it to life again. When I said that we'd love to bring it to Stratford
someday and share it with him, he awkwardly said that he didn't think he'd be around all that long.
And as sad as that is, I think it's partly what the play is about - a life passing, honouring those who
came before, the ephemeral nature of what we do, love, regret and the hope for being part of
something eternal.”
8. PRODUCTION CREDITS FOR WHEN THAT I WAS
Playwrights - John Mortimer & Edward Atienza
Performer - Christopher Hunt
Tour/Remount Director - Simon Mallett
This production originally directed by Vanessa Porteous
Set/Lighting Designer - Terry Gunvordahl
Sound Designer/Composer - Peter Moller
This guide compiled by Christopher Hunt
www.unclewillproductions.com
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