Shakespeare’s Fool
All tickets sold – online and at the Foxlowe. We are trying to re-arrange the space so as to offer a few more tickets but with no one more than 5 rows back. If we can do this, extra tickets will be available online from 1pm on Monday 22 Jan.
Shakespeare’s Fool is a captivating one-actor show that tells the story of Elizabethan superstar, Will Kempe, and shows how he helped in Shakespeare’s success.
William ‘Cavaliero’ Kempe was once a gentleman player, juggling jester, headmaster of Morris dancers and London’s finest clown of the era, admired for his bawdy antics and witty turns of phrase, one of the finest performers of the Elizabethan age. If Kempe was in a show – it sold. Until…he fell out with Will ‘git-face’ Shakespeare, and it all went wrong. Kempe died alone and poverty stricken, not very far from the original Globe Theatre of which he was an original shareholder, and he faded into obscurity; a world away from his former life, having supposedly originated some of literature’s best- known characters, including Bottom, Dogberry and Falstaff.
Join ‘Cavaliero’ Kempe on the streets of London as he gives his final performance to an audience of a mouse and a marotte and tells the tale of his life, his rise to stardom, and what really happened between him and William Shakespeare.
The show premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021 to full houses and received rave reviews from critics and audience alike. It has been a part of two International Shakespeare Festivals with sell-out shows across the UK at major venues as well as rural touring schemes.
“A witty and thought-provoking exploration of the role of comedy in a divided world.” – The Guardian
“A must-see for anyone who loves Shakespeare or comedy.” – The Independent
“Was completely captured by this powerful performance, and learnt a lot from it. Recommended even if you’re not a Shakespeare buff.” – Audience Member
Here’s a link to an Edinburgh Fringe review: http://fringereview.co.uk/review/edinburgh-fringe/2021/shakespeares-fool/