Christopher Brooke Bradshaw
London: Printed for the author. Sold by Charles Fox, 67, Pater-noster Row, 1845
In this play, Shakespeare embroils himself in the convoluted romances of his three sisters while also pranking a miserly money-lender and putting on plays at the last minute to amuse the Queen. The plot aspires to Shakespearian complexity, but does not achieve it, although there are amusing lines that recall the spirit of Shakespearian dialogue:
1st SERV. What, he that played…the ghost in what d’ye call the play?
2nd SERV. Amblit, Prince o’ Dunkirk
1st SERV. You’re right. One would think, to see him act his part, he’s served an apprenticeship in a county churchyard, he ghosted it so gravely.
In one notable scene, Shakespeare comforts his sister Kate, who has fallen in love with a Jewish merchant, and makes a speech on behalf of inter-racial marriage. -CP