A Cry of Players

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]

A Cry of Players
Written by	William Gibson
Date premiered	November 14, 1968
Place premiered	Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center New York City
Original language	English
Genre	Drama
Setting	Obscure town in England in the 1580s

Productions

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.

Original production casts

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	William Roerick	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

Plot

The plot is a fictionalized or dramatized version of William Shakespeare's young adult life.^[3]

Reception

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]

References

1. "SCENE II. A hall in the castle". shakespeare.mit.edu.
2. "A Cry of Players – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
3. "'CRY OF PLAYERS' MAKES LOTS OF NOISE, LITTLE SENSE - Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. 4 March 1986.
4. Barnes, Clive (November 15, 1968). "Theater: 'A Cry of Players' Opens; Lincoln Troupe Offers William Gibson Work With Anne Bancroft and Frank Langella". The New York Times.