Two Shakespearean Actors
Play Description
Based on a true story. The year is 1849, the place New York City. Two arch rivals — the English star William Macready and the American matinee idol Edwin Forrest — tempt fate when both perform the Scottish Play on the same night in neighboring downtown theaters. Their feud helps incite the already-inflamed rage of anti-British theatergoers, who riot right outside Macready’s theater. Thirty-four people die in the fray.
Production Info
Cast: 24 total (7 female, 17 male)Full Length Drama (about 120 minutes)
Multiple Sets
Period Costumes
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
Press Quotes
“TWO SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS commemorates and embellishes events surrounding a sensationally tragic event in New York theatrical history. The source of the trouble was the rivalry between two stage stars of the 19th century: the American Edwin Forrest and the British William Macready. Their simultaneous performances of MACBETH in 1849 caused riots in which at least 30 people lost their lives and many more were injured. Playwright Richard Nelson dramatizes the cataclysmic episode in robustly theatrical fashion. With a degree of justifiable dramatic license, Mr. Nelson and his actors simulate the circumstances of a spectacle grounded in an era when theatrical celebrities occupied the kind of pop status that rock stars enjoy today.” —John Beaufort, The Christian Science Monitor
Special Notes
If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:
In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypub.com