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Audio Book
Hodder Audio Books
Hardback £11.99
ISBN: 1840329726
Reviewed by Gill Vickery
[Armadillo 6.2 Summer 2004]
Jan Mark's brilliant tale of 16 year old Will Shakespeare's first attempt at playwriting is well served by this sound recording read by Martin Jarvis. I'd read the book as slightly more wry and ironic than Martin Jarvis's gentle interpretation and I do find the reading a bit slow, but this is more than made up for by his clear affection for the tale and its characters. I love his interpretation of Adam of Muscovy, the manic depressive professional actor, who sounds like Ian McKellen performing mellifluously at the RSC. He also captures perfectly the comedy of the rude mechanicals: Wat the Plasterer is every prickly, suspicious, canny tradesman you've ever met. The young characters are not so convincingly portrayed but this is a minor cavil to a delightful reading which glides gently to the climax of the story and leaves us knowing that Will is justified in his hope of going on to bigger and better things.