Author's Note: Dialogue in quotation marks is taken directly from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The plot is inspired by that work, and also by the play Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hachter.
liam and will, a tragedy
"If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
— William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
The Players:
CHARLES II, King of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
WILLIAM, an actor.
LIAM, his lover.
THOMAS KILLIGREW, theatre manager and childhood friend of the King.
NELL GWYNNE, an actress and the King’s mistress.
Various actors and soldiers.
Act 1. Scene I.The Theatre Royal at Drury Lane, London. The company on stage is performing Romeo and Juliet. The KING and members of his entourage are in the audience.
ACTOR: “Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.
Some shall be pardoned, and some punishéd;
For never was a story of more woe,
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”The audience applauds. The performers take their bows. After the curtain closes, the KING and his entourage go backstage.
KILLIGREW: (bows) Your Majesty does grace his humble servant
With his attendance in our audience.KING: My dear, good Killigrew, it is our joy,
To see such noble works upon our stage.
It is but several years now since we did
Grant you a license for this theatre royal
And we are pleased to see that you have made
Such wonderful success of our good faith.KILLIGREW: My liege, your faith in me and my endeavours
Doth please me to no end. Come now, my lord,
And meet the actors whom your gen’rous spirit
Does make to strut and fret upon your stage.
Will! Juliet!WILL: (bows) Your Majesty.
KING: Young Will,
You did make a most wondrous Juliet.
I read that Samuel Pepys did write
Of you, that you were without any doubt
The fairest Juliet that ever did
Tread on the London stage.WILL: Your Majesty
Does me great honour with his bounteous praise.NELL: (approaches, bows) My liege.
KING: Ah, me. My pretty, witty Nell.
How dids’t thou shine tonight upon the stage
As to eclipse even our lovely Will
In your aspect.NELL: My lord, our young William
Is fairer still than all the rosy cheeks
And heaving bosoms of our women play’rs.KING: Sweet Nellie, how you do amuse us so
With such boldness and lewd debauchery.NELL: Forsooth, my lord, I would amuse you more
With such debauchery tonight in bed.KING: (laughs) Let us make haste, then, to our royal rooms.
But first, good Killigrew, a word with you. (NELL and WILL exit)
My Nell tonight... was she not as a light
Upon the stage?KILLIGREW: Indeed, my lord, her charm
Is undeniable, and her talent
Grows greater every day. We are most bless’d
With such a one as her within our ranks.KING: And did she not make a most beautiful
Viola in the staging of Twelfth Night?KILLIGREW: Aye, my lord, her skill with major roles
Advances by leaps and bounds.KING: Then why not
Let her light shine where all can see? Give her
The centre stage, and role of Juliet.KILLIGREW: My lord, you know I can deny you aught.
Yet still, it seems a shame for good young Will
To be removéd from a role that he
Hath played so well, and to so much acclaim.KING: I know the audience does love young Will
And he has served us well and faithfully;
Yet, still there remains the singular fact
Of his third leg.KILLIGREW: My lord?
KING: He hath man’s form,
Thus cannot know the ways of womankind.KILLIGREW: Your Majesty, if I may be so crude,
Young Will is quite familiar with the ways
In which women lie on their backs and take
The heaving thrust of masculine desire.KING: (laughs) Mayhap young Ganymede knows what it is
To lie with men. But playing woman’s role
In bed is not the same as knowing how
To play a woman’s role upon the stage.
This is the modern age. We did decree
That woman should now tread upon the boards.
Why not let woman take the centre, then?KILLIGREW: Your wish is my command, my lord. Tonight
I will inform young Will of our design.
Tomorrow evening will be his farewell;
The next, our audience will welcome Nell.Exeunt.
Act 2. Scene I.
The theatre. The stage is still set, but the space is deserted. Enter WILL, still in Juliet’s costume, except for the wig.
WILL: I wore my costume to Tom Killigrew’s
In hopes it would amuse the other guests.
Such lavish threads as these I could not hope
To gain upon an actor’s salary.
And now it seems that even that small sum
Will be beyond my reach. If I had known
The news that Killigrew was to impart,
I would have worn a sackcloth to his home.Enter LIAM.
LIAM: “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
(he lifts Will’s chin) Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon – ”WILL: Nay, Liam, it is I, and not the moon
This evening who is sick and pale with grief.LIAM: Sweet Will, what is the matter? Tell me now,
What evil deed has veiled your eyes in night
When they should naught but shine with glorious day?WILL: I am your Juliet no longer, love,
Nor anybody else’s from now on.
His Majesty has now decreed that men
Shall no more play girls’ roles upon the stage.
Thus my career, which shone bright until now,
Comes to a dark and ignominious end.LIAM: Will, I am but a soldier, and I know
Nothing of theatre, except what you say.
Can you not take on men’s roles, now the King
Has made this bold and perplexing decree?WILL: My love, as you know, I am five-and-twenty.
I am past growing, so will never reach
The height of actors in the lead male roles.
My shoulders never will be quite so broad
And strong as yours are; nor my whiskers grow
A beard as thick as the patrician’s role.
I am consigned, the rest of my career,
To playing servants, page boys, oafs and fools.LIAM: And this is due some whimsy of the King’s?
WILL: Tom Killigrew tells me the King decrees
This is the modern era; and women
Should be allowed to shine upon the stage.
But I suspect this fancy of his springs
More from his loins’ desire for his slut
Than any his heart’s love of womankind.LIAM: Why say you so?
WILL: Our pretty, witty Nell
Is soon to play the role of Juliet.
Tomorrow evening is my last hurrah;
Then she is to be costumed in my place.LIAM: (angrily) The King has taken everything from me
Except my love, and now he takes that too.
Oh, would that I had...WILL: Hush, my love, be still.
I would not wish upon you the dread fate
That fell upon your comrades. I could not
Survive the pain of seeing you holed up
Inside the Tower, or worse yet, your neck
Meeting the executioner’s cold blade.
The King is weak; he likes his mistresses.
I lack the proper curves to catch his eye;
E’re that, or lack the beauty he desires.LIAM: (softly) Is this not beauty, then? This curve of lip,
So red and ripe, it cries out to be kissed? (they kiss)
This tongue so pink and luscious, that my loins
Do leap excitedly with its soft touch?WILL: Liam...
LIAM: Is this not beauty, then? This fine-boned cheek,
That Michelangelo himself did carve?
This curl of golden hair that falls, so soft
Across a brow so full of sentiment?
Is this not beauty, then? These eyes so blue
As make the sky to cloud itself with shame?
(he undoes the ties on William’s costume; the dress falls to the floor)
Is this not beauty, then? This rippling body
That waves upon the sea do imitate?
Is this not beauty? This column of flesh
Like to the marble of a Grecian temple
Where supplicants knelt to worship their gods?
(he kneels) If this be not beauty, then beauty may
Lay down her laurels, surrender her crown;
For she hath been usurped, in truth, by thee.WILL: Your words do light a fire in my heart
And in less noble places. (gasps) Aye, your tongue
Is the most talented in all the land
So as to put the poets all to shame.
(he pulls Liam up) But stand, my love, I would not have you kneel
As a poor supplicant before his king.LIAM: (he grins, takes Will's hand) Sweet Will, it is not hard for you to tell
That I am standing proud and tall already.WILL: I doubt the evidence of mine own hand.
Disrobe, that I may see it with mine eyes.
(Liam disrobes; Will touches him again)LIAM: You do undo me with your gentle touch.
How can it be, that anyone would wish
To trade a hand as this, with one so small
And soft, as to be barely felt at all?
The King may keep his Nell, and all the rest;
No woman can create the heat that burns
Within my loins when you do touch me there.WILL: (slides his hands up Liam’s arms)
And yet, I would become a woman still
To feel your body’s heat inside mine own.
O, Liam, comfort me in these strong arms.
I wish to play the woman’s role tonight
Since on stage I will play it nevermore.
(they kiss; Liam lays Will on his back)LIAM: O, my fair Juliet, your Romeo
Does worship at his lady’s holy temple.
Grant this poor pilgrim's fingers an entrance
By this most secret door thy body hides.WILL: (gasps) “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.”LIAM: “Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.
(Liam replaces his hands with his tongue)
Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.”WILL: (moans) “Then have my lips the sin that they have took.”
LIAM: “Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.” (Will giggles) You laugh at me?WILL: At this point in the script, the nurse would come
And say, “Madam, you mother craves a word.”LIAM: Then we must needs make haste, before someone
Happens on us to interrupt our play.WILL: Indeed my love, you must make haste, as I
Cannot withstand this teasing any longer.
Give me the part of you that I most crave.
(Liam moves up Will’s body, enters him)LIAM: O love, how you do prick me with desire.
WILL: (gasps) I think you are mistaken, for in truth
I am the one who is now being pricked.
I would laugh at your weak attempts at humour
But that mine own humour is overcome
All at once with pleasure and desire.
Touch me, my love, and bring my fever higher.
Long and lonely nights while you were hiding
I did imagine your ceaseless caress
Upon me, while your stiff and thickened shaft
Did thrust deep into me. My lonely palm
Was but a poor replacement for your hand;
Mine own fingers a withered substitute
For your most glorious and lovely prick.LIAM: (panting) Your words do spur me on; I cannot hold.
WILL: Then hold not, for I follow close behind.
LIAM: Ah! Will! O, my sweet Will!
WILL: Liam! My love!
(They lay still for a time.)
WILL: Have you recovered yet your pow’r of speech?
LIAM: I will anon. ’Tis seeming strange that you
Never lose yours, not even while we fuck.WILL: (laughs) It is the actor’s gift of gab, my heart.
Besides, it seems to me you did enjoy
My ribald narrative. (Liam looks away) Why do you frown?LIAM: There is something I am afraid to tell.
WILL: What is it?
LIAM: I must away tomorrow.
I have heard from a friend, noble and true:
The King’s dogs have been sniffing round my heels
And are close to uncovering my part
In the Irish plot to kill the King. Will,
Come away with me. Tomorrow evening
My ship will sail for France. After the play,
There will be nothing left to keep you here.WILL: Dear heart! Of course I will away with you!
A thousand promises of leading roles
Would not suffice to part me from your side.LIAM: Your words do warm my heart. I was afraid
That you’d be loathe to leave the life you love.WILL: My love for you outshines any footlight
The stage may have to offer. It is bright
As the sun that will rise upon the morrow.
Let not your brow be clouded, then, in sorrow:
After tomorrow night, my future’s set;
Only for you will I play Juliet.Exeunt.
Act 3. Scene I.
Backstage at the Theatre Royal. The actors, including WILL and NELL, are preparing for the evening’s performance. Enter KILLIGREW.
KILLIGREW: Good players! As you know, this evening marks
The final farewell of our Juliet.
Young Will has served us well in his portrayal;
But it is time to let a woman play
This most fair, lovely, and tragic of roles.
Next week, young Nell will don the maiden’s veil –NELL: Though young, this Nell no blushing maiden be!
(all laugh)
KILLIGREW: Aye, Nell, we all know well your dalliance
With our great benefactor, whom we love.
And for our love of him, I do bring news
To doubtless gladden every player’s heart.
The King’s men have this evening just announced
That they have caught th’elusive Irishman:
The final of those most treacherous curs
Who dared to plot against His Majesty.
The knave was brought before the Royal block
Where he and his head did part company!
(the actors cheer, all save Will)
Come players, the lights dim. Let us away,
And give our audience a wondrous play.(Exeunt, save Will.)
WILL: (weeping) O, my dear heart! My Liam! O, my love!
The only sun which shone upon my world!
A plague upon the King, and Killigrew,
And those who stood rejoicing at your death!
How can I live in this world, now my soul
Hath passed on to the next? I cannot bear
To suffer through the endless days and nights
A soulless creature, damned to wander lost
Without my guiding star to light my way.
I follow that fair beacon to the end:
And since my soul is freed and taken flight
My body now will follow it this night.Exit.
Act 3. Scene II.
The play has finished. The stage is still set, but the theatre is empty. Enter WILL, still in Juliet’s costume.
WILL: This stage, that has for so long been my life,
Will witness now my death. And is it not
Fitting that I should die as Juliet?
I have obtained from an apothecary
A poison, which I will pour in this cup
That lately was a prop in our fair play.
Thus does the life now imitate the art;
And I, fair Juliet, do truly follow
My husband to the belly of the beast.
“Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food!
Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee.
(he drinks, then falls to the floor)
O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick.”
(he dies)Enter LIAM.
LIAM: Will! We must make haste! For even now,
The King’s men follow hot upon my heels.
They thought to have me captured at my home
But I escaped them, and for several hours
Did hide out in the sewers, waiting for
This evening’s play to end, and you to claim.
Why do you sleep alone upon the stage?
(shakes him) Awake! Awake, my love, for we must flee!
(holds him close) Will? (sobs) Will! No, no, it cannot be! Sweet Will,
Tell me you did not listen to rumours
Of my capture, and then despair of me!
Tell me you did not bring your role to life
And by living it, bring life to an end!
(he spies the cup)
“What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative.
(he kisses Will) Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advancéd there.”KING’S MAN: (offstage) “Lead, boy: which way?”
LIAM: “Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. (grabs the dagger lying on stage) O happy dagger!
This is thy sheath. (he stabs himself) There rust, and let me die.”
(he falls on WILL’s body and dies)Enter the KING’S MEN, followed by the KING.
KING’S MAN: Your Majesty, here lies the traitor now.
(he grabs LIAM’S arm) Up, cur! It’s time you met your bloody fate.KING: Good man, his fate has already been met.
See how the blood seeps through his ragged shirt;
Look at the gaping wound within his breast.
His life was drained away ’ere we arrived.KING’S MAN: A coward, then, to forfeit his own life
Rather than meet his ending like a man.KING: Mayhap. But who, then, is this other, here?
I know this man; he is the actor, Will,
Who lately played the role of Juliet.
Good Killigrew did tell me that young Will
Did have a secret lover, and that he
Preferred the company of men in bed.
I think these two were those star-crossed lovers;
And hearing of the fate that lay before
Chose to end life in one another’s arms
Than suffer each his separate demise.KING’S MAN: It is disgusting, and against God’s laws
That men should lie with men in such a way.KING: Not so, good man; for nothing is more pure
Or holy, than the love one being holds
In his heart for another. It is not
The form that matters, but the love itself.
(he turns to all his men)
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.
All shall be pardoned, and none punishéd;
For never was a story of more woe,
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.Curtain.