| A Cry of Players | |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Setting: | Obscure town in England in the 1580s |
| Premiere: | November 14, 1968 |
| Place: | Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center New York City |
| Orig Lang: | English |
A Cry of Players is a drama by William Gibson, first performed in 1968, that portrays the young adult life of William Shakespeare. The title comes from Hamlet, spoken by the aforementioned, Act 3, Scene 2: "Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers-- if the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me--with two provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir?"[1]
The original production opened on July 24, 1968 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The show was directed by Gene Frankel.
The show transferred to Broadway to the Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center and premiered on November 14, 1968. The crew was made up by set design David Hays, costume design Patricia Quinn Stewart, and lighting design John Gleason. Frankel would also direct. Understudies were Ruth Attaway (Meg), Frank Bayer (Arthur), James Cook (Kemp), Leslie Graves (Susanna), Douglas Hayle (Heming), Robert Levine (Richards, Gilbert, Berry), Marilyn Lightstone (Anne), Robert Molock (Pope), William Myers (Hodges, Roche, Old John), Robert Phalen (Will), Robert Stattel (Sandells), and Barbette Tweed (Jenny).[2] The show played in repertoire with William Shakespeare's King Lear.
| Character | Off-Broadway | Broadway |
|---|---|---|
| William Shakespeare | Frank Langella | |
| Fulk | Michael Egan | |
| Meg | Lois Kibbee | Rosetta LeNoire |
| Anne Hathaway | Anne Bancroft | |
| Richards | Robert Donley | Ray Fry |
| Susanna Hall | Jackie Paris | |
| Kemp | Dan Morgan | Robert Symonds |
| Sir Thomas | Stephen Elliott | |
| Ned | Peter Galman | René Auberjonois |
| Berry | Brendan Fay | |
| Sandells | Bill Moor | |
| Roche | Ray Stewart | |
| Jenny | Flora Elkins | Susan Tyrrell |
| Hodges | Jerome Dempsey | |
| Heming | Tom Sawyer | |
| Arthur | Terrence Hall | Kristoffer Tabori |
| Old John | Don McHenry | |
| Gilbert Shakespeare | Jess Osuna | Ronald Weyand |
| Pope | N/A | Gerry Black |
The plot is a fictionalized or dramatized version of William Shakespeare's young adult life.[3]
Clive Barnes, the theatre critic for the New York Times, gave a mixed review, stating "'A Cry Of Players' and a clique of cliches -- there was much that was wrong with William Gibson's new play given by the Lincoln Center Repertory Company at the Vivian Beaumont Theater last night, but there was also much that was right."[4]