The play Arden of Faversham was first published in 1592 and is credited to 鈥渁nonymous,鈥� though many scholars and Shakespeare aficionados believe it was written (or at least co-written) by the bard himself. That includes Beth Burns, the artistic director of The Hidden Room Theatre and a veteran director of Shakespeare鈥檚 work.
鈥淪cholars first thought it might be Shakespeare in the 1700s just because it鈥檚 really good,鈥� Burns says. 鈥淏ut now that we have stylometric tests, we鈥檙e finding it鈥檚 probably more and more likely that a young Shakespeare did indeed have a hand in writing it. I tend to think that it鈥檚 Shakespeare just because, after 10 years of directing Shakespeare, it sounds like him. He鈥檚 the funniest early modern playwright that I know. It has his sense of humor stamped all over it [and] it has themes that鈥檒l come back in all of his plays moving forward. It has a lot of Shakespeare in it.鈥�
Shakespeare or not, Arden of Faversham seems remarkably modern for a 428 year old play.
鈥淚t feels very much like if Shakespeare had written Fargo,鈥� Burns says.
The plot revolves around a wealthy landowner who manages to enrage everyone in his town 鈥� including his wife and her lover 鈥� so much that they hire multiple inept murderers to do him in. That鈥檚 a plot that certainly could鈥檝e been a Coen brothers movie, and it鈥檚 also based on a true story that happened years before the play was written.
鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 the first true crime play and certainly the first true crime comedy,鈥� Burns says.
The themes at work 鈥� greed, envy, class, romantic jealousy 鈥� are just as topical now as they were when the play was written.
鈥淲e are just as fascinated with stupid criminality as we were in the 1500s,鈥� Burns says with a laugh. 鈥淎nd the cool thing about this is this was one of those crimes that rocked the nation, and everybody was talking about it. So much so that decades later a play about it was written.鈥�
While this is Hidden Room鈥檚 first full staging of Arden of Faversham, they did a staged reading of the play a few years ago, and it鈥檚 become a favorite of Burns鈥�.
鈥淵ou know, when people like to ask me, 鈥楬ey, what鈥檚 your favorite Shakespeare play?鈥� I have to say, if this is Shakespeare, it鈥檚 definitely up there now for me. And I鈥檓 not exactly sure why more people don鈥檛 do it,鈥� she says. 鈥淧lays tend to come in and out of fashion. And this is a play that just not a lot of people are knowing about. But I suspect the more people that know about it, the more people will do it, because it鈥檚 so much fun.鈥�
https://vimeo.com/389820381" target="_blank">The Hidden Room presents Arden of Faversham (Promo Trailer) from https://vimeo.com/magicspoon" target="_blank">Magic Spoon Productions on .
