Shakespeare's Will NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (48)
See it if You enjoy engaging one-women shows that entertain and enlighten.
Don't see it if If you don't enjoy one-person's show or have no interest in the life of William Shakespeare and his family.
See it if you enjoy Shakespeare and are curious about his life!
Don't see it if do not enjoy a one person show.
See it if You are a fan of Shakespeare and are interested in his life with his family and wife. You enjoy a show with a historical background.
Don't see it if You are not a fan of one person shows. Although I am not usually a fan of monologues I thoroughly enjoyed this one !
See it if you would like a feminist, alternative take on the life of Shakespeare's wife. Clever and engaging.
Don't see it if you want total authenticity or want a naturalistic performance. This is very stylized.
See it if What if this happened with Anne Hathaway & Will, & that pesky Will that Will wrote intrigue you as possibilities for a one woman play +music
Don't see it if not interested in Shakespeare possibiliana, one person shows, Anne Hathaway, listening, imagining or appreciating
See it if Tannis Kowalchuk is excellent as Anne Hathaway. Although historical fiction it is interesting to get a peek at her life.
Don't see it if Do not go if you do not enjoy solo shows or do not have any interest in Shakespeare’s life.
See it if a charming, well researched one woman show appeals to you. The use of music is particularly nice.
Don't see it if heavy handed irony created by repetition annoys you.
See it if To know some fact about William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway. Good acting ,lighting and direction. 65 minutes no intermission.
Don't see it if If you don't like a historical play with some singing and music. Has a little feminist tone to it.
Critic Reviews (9)
"What is lamentable is the lack of conflict. Most of the time, 'Shakespeare's Will' is a quasi-poetic account of a woman running her household while her absent spouse courts fame and fortune. With its relentless focus on the quotidian and Anne's penchant for bursting into bits of song, it seems determined to position her as a kind of Elizabethan Emily Dickinson, but without the poetry...It's hard not to feel that 'Shakespeare's Will' focuses on the duller half of this storied marriage."
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"Where Thiessen errs is in blending a feminist portrait of Hathaway with the hard-boiled historical facts known about her and her celebrated husband. At times it gives you the feeling that you are watching two plays concurrently...What emerges is a solo show that gives you a modern, and generous-minded, perspective on Anne Hathaway...'Shakespeare's Will' isn't altogether a persuasive portrait of Hathaway. But it does give a voice to the Bard's often forgotten wife."
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"Vern Thiessen certainly takes liberties in his play 'Shakespeare’s Will'...Kowalchuk shows her considerable range as an actor, and commands our attention from beginning to end...Yet for all of Kowalchuk’s skill, very little can be done to mask the script’s inherit shortcomings...Even the reasoning as to why Hathaway puts off reading the will is shaky at best...Kowalchuk’s performance is notable, but not even her best moments can fix a play that falls so frustratingly flat."
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"Vibrant solo piece, performed with flair, sensitivity, and heart by Tannis Kowalchuk. She presents the traditionally ambiguous character of Anne Hathaway as a strong woman brimming with passion, intelligence, and mirth...Kowalchuk comes across as amiable and entertaining...She's empathetic and human...She's winning...'Shakespeare's Will' is imaginative, tender, and rather mesmerizing."
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"Performing a one-person show is a mighty feat, and Tannis Kowalchuk is more than up to the challenge. She somehow manages to sing and speak her way through the show with no signs of slowing down, even with the considerable amount of passion she brings. Instead of Anne being portrayed as the perfect lady with no emotion, we see Anne stating her own opinions, just as any strong woman would do."
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"Thiessen throws many of the documented facts about Hathaway out the window, apparently in service to using Anne as a springboard. For what? Unfortunately, for his own exploration of the journey of a woman who faces adversity, rises above it, and rekindles a zest for life in herself. Oh, yawn…The inconsistencies, the flavorless quality of the performance, the basic premise, the odd musical accompaniment: all add up to a New Age-y feminist statement that just doesn’t work."
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"Kowalchuk presents 'her' Anne as an independent full-bodied sensual woman...While the ear at times is jarred with some anachronisms, her performance slides over these with her delightful sense of ironic humor....I wish McGurl’s choreographic direction would trust audience attention more by giving Anne some longer moments of repose where the text warrants. The performance presents an enjoyable thought experiment about the life of the underexposed companion to Shakespeare."
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"As played by NACL performer, the charming Tannis Kowalchuk, Anne is a warm and loving presence...Over the course of the hour Kowalchuk fully immerses herself into the contradiction that is Anne Hathaway...Under the watchful direction of Mimi McGurl, and accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Rima Fand, Kowalchuk uses all sorts of movement, song, and poetic language to play the multiple characters who inhabit this tale."
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