Libro Inglés 3 Trimestre
Libro Inglés 3 Trimestre
RETURNS
Script
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
CHARACTERS
Shakespeare, a famous playwright.
Richard, a friend of Shakespeare and an actor at the Globe Theatre Company.
Anne Hathaway, a young woman aspiring to be an actress at John’s Theatre Company.
John P, a Spanish actor who with his own Theatre Company.
2
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
TRACK 1
ACT I
(Shakespeare enters. He is desolate, his face and hands are dirty. We can see a glow of fire in the distance.
There is a table to one side of the stage. On it there are scrolls, a pen and a paperweight shaped like a skull.
There is a big box and some foils next to it.)
Shakespeare: I could not save the theatre. The theatre is on fire… I am useless… They think I’m a hero but
I’m really a nobody… (Picking up the pen.) To write or not to write? That is the question... (He
approaches the trunk. He hesitates, and then puts the pen inside it. Then he locks the trunk
and throws away the key.) (Richard enters, dressed as a woman.)
Richard: Shakespeare!? (In a woman’s voice.)
Shakespeare: Who’s that you’re naming?
Richard: We saved some manuscripts! (He shows him some burnt papers.)
Shakespeare: What do we need the scripts for? Shakespeare is dead, and everything with him. And why do
you keep talking in a woman’s voice?
Richard: Sorry… (Hoarse.) The fire is not your fault.
Shakespeare: You’re right, my friend. The fire is the fault of that damned writer named William Shakespeare,
the one who gave life to Romeo the Lover, the indecisive Hamlet, the usurer Shylock and the
ambitious Macbeth! (Taking off his wig.)
Richard: But... what are you saying, my friend? You are Shakespeare! Why do I say Shakespeare? I
mean the great William Shakespeare! You are our hero!
Shakespeare: Richard! No…
Richard: But…
Shakespeare: NO! The Globe Theatre is dead and... Shakespeare is dead with it. And now I ask you to lease
leave me alone.
Richard: Well… No!
Shakespeare: Richard?
Richard: I won’t move from here. (Richard stands still and Shakespeare becomes desperate
Shakespeare…) I’ll tell you what we’re going to do... I know a theatre company where they’re
looking for actors very close to here. We can join them and start from zero, what do you think?
Shakespeare: For me the Theatre disappeared with that fire. (He glances at the burnt papers.) The Cardenio
comedy?
Richard: It didn’t survive. (Shakespeare throws the papers away.) No! Will! No! (Trying to stop him.)
Shakespeare: (Crying.) To be or not to be… I don’t want to be, Richard, I don’t want to be.
Richard: Okay... Forget the fire. Do it for your dear Juliet.
Shakespeare: Don’t name the characters in my plays! What did I say about my plays? They are no longer my
works! I renounce myself; I renounce everything. (Taking the papers from the table to destroy
them. Richard tries to stop him.)
Richard: All right, you’re not Shakespeare anymore... So.... What do I call you?
Shakespeare: What?
3
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Richard: Your name, your new damn name... Hello my name is Richard, What’s your name? (Extending
his hand.)
Shakespeare: I don’t know…
Richard: You want not to be “that writer” but you don’t even have a name? Bad start!
Shakespeare: (About to cry.) I don’t even know who I am!
Richard: Shake… (Interrupting himself.) All right, well, a nobody. From now on, you will be Mr. Nobody.
Come on, get your ruff, let’s go out to look for that theatre company.
Shakespeare: I don’t want my ruff.
Richard: Great, I’ll have it. (Returning to the first position.)
Shakespeare: I’m not gonna move from here, Richard.
Richard: What can I do to convince you? Passion awaits us, theatre is our life, let’s act together again!
(Shakespeare turns and bows his head. Then Richard takes the skull from the table and comes to the front of
the stage. He starts to recite the famous monologue from Hamlet.)
TRACK 2
4
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Hamlet (Shakespeare): No, not at all. Just follow the logic: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander
returned to dust, the dust is dirt, and dirt makes mud we use to stop up holes. So
why can’t someone plug a beer barrel with the dirt that used to be Alexander? The
great emperor Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might plug up a hole to keep the wind
away. Oh, to think that the same body that once ruled the world could now patch up a
wall! But quiet, be quiet a minute. Here comes the king, the queen, and the noblemen
of court. Who are they following? And with such a plain and scrawny ceremony? It
means the corpse they’re following took its own life. Must have been from a wealthy
family. Let’s stay and watch a while.
TRACK 3
Richard: (Throwing the skull at Shakespeare) I challenge you to a fight, if I win, we’ll go and join the
theatre. (Going over to the foils.)
Shakespeare: And if I win?...
Richard: You’ll never call yourself William Shakespeare again.
Shakespeare: It’s a deal!
5
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
TRACK 4
Richard: That’s not fair! (He throws down the foil.) Laertes loses to Hamlet...
Shakespeare: It would be more accurate to say... They’re both going to die.
Richard: Aha! So I win!
Shakespeare: No, you don´t. It’s a tie. I accept the proposal to do theatre, but don’t call me by my name.
(Shaking their hands.)
Richard: Wonderful dear Shakes...! I mean, Mr. Nobody. (Picking up the foils.) Quick, my friend, a
thousand adventures await us! (They exit.)
TRACK 5
ACT II
(A small Theatre. John Phillips is sitting on a little stool.)
John: Ladies and gentlemen! Come here, I won’t bite! Welcome to my humble world, a foer from the
Iberian Peninsula to delight you with the best pieces of the Master Shakespeare! Yes, as you
have heard, at the end of this week, we shall have the greatest premiere ever seen in London.
We all have seen the fire at the Globe Theatre... (He takes off his hat and presses it to his
chest) A great tragedy for all the actors that dream and live here... but, it’s time to get up, and
move on, and what better way than with the best characters created by William Shakespeare.
Buy your tickets and enjoy this great show! (A young woman enters and approaches him.)
Anne: Excuse me.
John: Kind lady, would you like a ticket? (With big smile.)
Anne: I’m here about the audition.
6
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: (Jumping off the table and pushing her aside.) Miss, I appreciate your efforts in persuading
me, but I am not looking for a girlfriend. And… if you are not looking for a husband, but you in
fact are looking for a role in my theatre company, I would advise you: Don’t bring the subject
up again, because it is totally forbidden to accept women into the world of artists! Now if you’ll
excuse me... (Pointing to the exit.) If you keep going down that street, you’ll find the Royal
Exchange, there are men and true love, if you understand.
TRACK 6
(Anne doesn’t exit. She stands by, thinking. John returns to the table. He is singing about the true love. Richard
and Shakespeare enter.)
Richard: And… Did you meet Cervantes? Great personality, I suppose, as great as his works... (He
stops when Anne begins to protest to John.) Something’s wrong with the world if this poor girl
is this bad. Excuse me? Can we help you with something?
Anne: No, excuse me, for showing myself up like this.
Richard: What’s wrong?
Anne: The treatment I’ve received from the director of that company and not being able to play a role
in the theatre.
Richard: Have you tried to join the company?
Anne: Yes, I have.
Richard: Oh! I’m sorry to tell you that Elizabethan theatre doesn’t admit damsels. Decree from the
queen and other laws...
Anne: I know, but please understand that I come from a working family, and I don’t give up on great
injustices.
Shakespeare: Well said, lady.
Anne: Excuse me, you remind me of someone...
Richard: Of course! He is the great Will...
Shakespeare: (Giving Richard a kick.) Wilbur Nobody, you can call me Mr. Nobody.
Anne: And you are?
Richard: Richard Kane. I could add: Richard Kane, the cripple but… (Trying to dissimulate the pain.)
Anne: Anne Hathaway. Nice to meet you. Were you going to the Royal Exchange?
Richard: Not at all, we are humble people who want to do what we like. We’re going to work in the
theatre!
Anne: Are you from the theatre company?
Richard: We’re one audition away!
Anne: Good luck. “Break a leg”.
Richard: Thank you, lady. Now if you’ll excuse us. (Richard pushes Shakespeare aside.)
Shakespeare: Richard, we can’t leave her like this.
Richard: Will, you see, she wants the impossible!
Shakespeare: Wow, optimistic Richard being a negative.
Richard: What do you want? Put a flute “down there” and give her a moustache? (Changing his
expression as he realises that this is exactly what Shakespeare is planning to do. Shakespeare
approaches Anne.) No! Will!
7
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Shakespeare: Excuse me, Anne. I think there’s a way to get into the company.
Anne: Are you sure?
Shakespeare: Well, you would need to make a change in your clothes and maybe add some hair to your
face, but...
Richard: Don’t listen to this Mr. Nobody, what he’s saying is impossible. (Richard pulls at the writer’s
arm.)
Anne: I would do anything to perform Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare: Sorry?
Anne: It is incredible how William Shakespeare writes: to live his characters, to feel the passion of
any passage of his works...!
Shakespeare: Don’t make a fuss.
Anne: He’s my hero.
Shakespeare: He’s a person like any other.
Anne: Do you know him?
Shakespeare: Yeah... well, no, I’ve actually read some of his works. They are... interesting, that’s all. You
know what? Forget pretending to be a man, it was a bad idea.
(Shakespeare goes to leave and Richard follows him. Anne comes to the front of the stage and begins the
famous Lady Macbeth soliloquy. When Shakespeare hears her, he stops.)
TRACK 7
Lady Macbeth (Anne): Come, you spirits that assist murderous thoughts, make me less like a woman and
more like a man, and fill me from head to toe with deadly cruelty! Thicken my blood
and clog up my veins so I won’t feel remorse, so that no human compassion can
stop my evil plan or prevent me from accomplishing it! Come to my female breast
and turn my mother’s milk into poisonous acid, you murdering demons, wherever you
hide, invisible and waiting to do evil! Come, thick night, and cover the world in the
darkest smoke of hell, so that my sharp knife can’t see the wound it cuts open, and
so heaven can’t peep through the darkness and cry, “No! Stop!”
TRACK 8
Richard: Macbeth!
Shakespeare: To be exact, Lady Macbeth after receiving the missive. It is not fair that such a talented
person should be kept out of the theatre. Richard, give me your hat.
8
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: Gentlemen! I see you’re coming to the audition. Your names, please?
Richard: Why this accent? Your English is awful…
John: I come from Castilla...
Richard: (To Shakespeare.) Is that how Cervantes spoke? How horrible!
John: Put on those costumes, Mr...
Richard: Richard Kane.
Shakespeare: Wilbur Nobody.
Anne: Erm…
John: The Nobody is him; you’ll have something more decent as a name, won’t you?
Anne: Well, yes... I...
John: All right, calm down and leave your stage fright aside. You’ll play Macbeth, and we’ll play the
witches. Okay, Mr. “Mac”?
Anne: That’s correct.
John: When you remember your name, tell me. I’m John. Nerves play tricks, I know. Let’s get
started:
TRACK 9
2nd. Witch (John): By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.
Macbeth (Anne): What’s going on here, you secret, evil, midnight hags?
All: Something there isn’t a word for.
Macbeth (Anne): I don’t know how you know the things you do, but I insist that you answer my questions.
I command you in the name of whatever dark powers you serve.. Even if the Devil
himself gives you your powers, answer my questions.
1st Witch (Richard): Speak.
9
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Macbeth (Anne): Whatever you are, thanks for your advice. You have guessed exactly what I feared.
But one word more.
1st Witch (Richard): He will not be commanded by you. Here’s another, stronger than the first.
Macbeth (Anne): Then I don’t need to kill Macduff. I have no reason to fear him. But even so, I’ll make
doubly sure. (3RD APPARITION: a child with a crown on his head and a tree in his
hand.) What is this spirit that looks like the son of a king and wears a crown on his
young head?
you, and who conspires against you. Macbeth will never be defeated until Birnam
Wood marches to fight you at Dunsinane Hill…
10
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Macbeth (Anne): That will never happen. Who can command the forest and make the trees pull their
roots out of the earth? These were sweet omens! Good! My murders will never come
back to threaten me until the forest of Birnam gets up and moves, and I will be king for
my entire natural life. But my heart is still throbbing to know one thing. Tell me, if your
dark powers can see this far: will Banquo’s sons ever in this kingdom?
All: Don’t try to find out more.
Macbeth (Anne): I demand to be satisfied. If you refuse, let an eternal curse fall on you. Let me know.
1st Witch (Richard): Show!
2nd Witch (John): Show!
3rd Witch (Shakesp.): Show!
TRACK 10
John: Bravo! Bravissimo! Splendid! What art! My dear actors, I have to say that you have done a
good job. Although after what I’ve seen, I am sorry to inform you that I’m keeping only this
great actor... (Pointing to Anne.) Have you recalled your name?
Anne: Andy.
John: Just like that?
Anne: Just like that.
John: Welcome, Mr. Andy! (Approaching to Shakespeare and Richard.) Gentlemen, it’s been a
pleasure, but you must go.
Anne: Did you like my performance?
John: It was magnificent!
Anne: If you want me in the company, you’ll have to accept my friends... I couldn’t have done it
without them.
John: Oh! (Smiling nervous.) A “Tiquisquisquis” actor.… Hee, hee, hee...! Well... after all, we don’t
have time, the Romeo play must be ready by the end of the week, we only have a few days left.
Welcome to the three of you! Ha, ha, ha! I am very happy that you are part of this company.
(Embracing and leading them to the background of the stage.) Now get ready to do some
actor’s exercises. How about the merchant of Venice for practice?
TRACK 11
ACT III
(Anne and Shakespeare are doing voice exercises on the stage. They are laughing. John enters suddenly. He
is very happy as he has great news.)
11
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: Missive from Queen Elizabeth I! The queen wanted to give me her words! Well, she wanted to
give us her words! We could be “The Queen’s Men”! Let’s read! (Opening the letter.) We must
all listen to the letter. Where’s Richard?
Shakespeare: Em... let’s say he’s indisposed.
John: Indisposed to act? (Annoyed.)
Shakespeare: It’s simpler than that... Or tighter, I’d say. It is: (He makes some gestures about it.) Only he
takes his time...
John: Ah! I understand. When the four of us are here, we’ll read the good news, I hope he’s not late!
I can’t wait...
Shakespeare: Richard confessed to me that while he’s doing his business, he studies theatre scripts. At least
he doesn’t waste any time! (Anne smiles.)
Anne: “¡Mucha mierda!” (With British accent.)
John: What did you say, dear Andy?
Anne: That’s why in Spanish theatre they use the expression, “¿¡Mucha mierda!?”
John: No my friend... let me explain the etymology. If we have a large audience at our show this
Friday, there will be a lot of horses at the doors and then, the theatre entrance will be full of
shit, fertilizer... I hope that this Friday there will be: ¡Mucha mierda! (John exits, very happy.)
Shakespeare: Shall we continue practicing?
Anne: Mr Nobody... I’m afraid.
Shakespeare: Why, Anne?
Anne: It’s true that theatre is my life, but I’m not a liar, I don’t like lying to John and I don’t like breaking
the law.
Shakespeare: Law? Oh, come on Anne, when it comes to injustice you cannot call it law... John is right...
Anne: But I like to be honest, I don’t like to lie. I don’t like losing my identity. If you knew the virtues of
this name, or the value of who gave it to me, or how much I care about keeping it, you would
never have agreed with John. Why should there be such a crazy man, who, defending him
with some insistence, would insist on snatching such a precious gift from you?
Shakespeare: Are these lines from “The Merchant of Venice”? (Anne is set aside.)
Anne: Shakespeare is authentic! He would never lie... Don’t you think?
Shakespeare: Well....
Anne: His soul is reflected in his words. His characters say what they are, and “are” pure essence.
Shakespeare: Ann, it’s not good to idealise people. You don’t know William Shakespeare at all.
Anne: I don’t think you understand me. Shakespeare would stand up for my cause!
Shakespeare: Anne... I...
Anne: Do you still call me Anne? Do you believe in me?
Shakespeare: (Approaching her.) Don’t lose your identity, Anne...
Anne: Who’s Anne?
Shakespeare: You remind me of a very stubborn writer...
Anne: You know perfectly who you are, stay away from me. My falsehood might infect you.
Shakespeare: Anne, I’m already infected, let me confess something...
Anne: Wilbur, leave it. (She walks away from him.) I’m not going through with this lie!
Shakespeare: Anne, I am Wil...
John: Juliet! You’ll be Juliet! (John comes on scene. He is carrying the costumes for Juliet, Romeo
and Mercutio. He is dressed as Shylock.)
Shakespeare: What?
12
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: You’ll play Juliet and our friend Andy will be Romeo! Andy, dress up as Romeo.
Anne: (Taking the Romeo costume.) I’ll be back!
John: Why don’t you change here?
Anne: (Before she leaves.) Remember, John, I’m a “Tiquisquisquis” actor. Where are the dressing
rooms?
John: In the background, on the left, like all dressing rooms. (Anne goes.) I love this man’s confidence!
Richard: (Carrying the script for The Merchant of Venice.) I’ve had time to read it a couple of times... I’m
sorry I’m late. What did I miss?
Shakespeare: We have received a letter from Queen Elizabeth.
Richard: I feel like going to the bathroom again. Give me that. (Takes the script out his hands.)
John: (Picking up the script.) No more “Water Closet”! Grab your costumes. (Handing them the
clothes.)
Richard: Excuse me, Your Honour! The toilet is the greatest English invention, it’s brilliant!
John: The toilet was invented by the Arabs twenty-seven centuries ago, and now the English people
think they’re very clever. Let’s get to work! (John exits.)
Shakespeare: Richard, I have to tell Anne I’m Shakespeare.
Richard: You’re unbelievable! You fool! But incredible.
Shakespeare: She’s even more incredible... Richard, I’m suffering. I suffer from not revealing that I am
William Shakespeare, and she suffers from not telling the world that she is Anne Hathaway.
Richard: Okay, I trade the incredible for “you are both fools.”
Shakespeare: We have to reveal to John who we are.
Richard: No, Will, if John finds out, it’ll be the end for. Tell Anne the truth, but she must keep pretending
to be a man.
Shakespeare: Richard, Anne is... is... is ineffable!
Richard: My friend! Have you fallen in love?
John: We’re all here! (Opening the setter again.) This is a unique event! I read: “To the attention of
the company John and Johnnies...” Well... I registered with this name because I consider you
my little “Juanes”... OK, I continue: “Next Friday, day of the premiere of your play Romeo and
Juliet, I will visit the theatre and I will see the show...”
TRACK 12
(John starts breathing heavily. He is about to faint and fall to the ground.)
John: This can’t be... I’m dreaming. The queen, here with us? I’m really sorry my King Philip II, but in
matters of art, kings, politics and religion, nothing matters... The queen will be welcomed, and
she will see our magnificent work. I keep reading: “I hope to find the balcony appropriate for a
queen like me...
John: We’ll take 20 seats off the balcony and put on a huge throne... Continue: “I hope that the
company will follow all the rules for these events, as for example the company should be
made up of only men. ” (Anne looks at Shakespeare, worried.)
13
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: This reminds me of a poor girl I had to refuse... I’m still reading: “and it is very important that
the company must be formed only by English actors, to that effect any foer may be expelled
or arrested if he is in the show...” (John drops the letter and moves to the front of the stage.)
John: Look what you’ve done, Philip II, you could be at peace with her.
Richard: John… (John makes a gesture for him to shut up.)
John: Let’s talk about the difference... about hatred, about why it’s very difficult to make politics and
morals compatible.
TRACK 13
Shylock (John): He’s insulted me and cost me half a million ducats. He’s laughed at my losses, made
fun of my earnings, humiliated my race, thwarted my deals, turned my friends against
me, riled up my enemies—and why? Because I’m a Jew. Doesn’t a Jew have eyes?
Doesn’t a Jew have hands, bodily organs, a human shape, five senses, feelings, and
passions? Doesn’t a Jew eat the same food, get hurt with the same weapons, get sick
with the same diseases, get healed by the same medicine, and warm up in summer
and cool off in winter just like a Christian? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle
us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we
not try to get revenge? If we’re like you in everything else, we’ll resemble you in that
respect. If a Jew offends a Christian, what’s the Christian’s kind and gentle reaction?
Revenge. If a Christian offends a Jew, what punishment will he come up with if he
follows the Christian example? Of course, the same thing—revenge! I’ll treat you as
badly as you Christians taught me to—and you’ll be lucky if I don’t outdo my teachers.
TRACK 14
John: The occasion must be created, we cannot wait for it to arrive. I will act with you! I will practice my
lines until my eyes bleed, I will do the best accen... accen... (Unsure about the pronunciation.)
Richard: Accent.
John: That’s it, “acentúo”. Let’s get back to work! (They turn to the Romeo Juliet scene and exit.)
TRACK 15
ACT IV
(Shakespeare enters dressed like a woman. Anne does the same in the opposite side dressed like a man. They
meet centre stage. We can see a balcony in the background.)
14
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
TRACK 16
TRACK 17
John: No, no, no! (Pointing to Romeo.) Your voice is higher than Juliet’s!
Anne and Shakespeare: And?
John: And?
Anne and Shakespeare: Yes, and?
John: Well, Romeo looks like the woman and Juliet looks like the man.
15
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
John: Are you a woman? You’re the girl who wanted to join my company!
Richard: Oh! I’ve arrived at the perfect moment; I could have taken “El Quixote” to the bathroom.
John: (On his knees.) We are finished, we are all finished...
Richard: Nothing’s changed, John. Let’s stay with the characters and no one will notice.
John: Did you know she was a woman?
Richard: Well...
John: You lied to me!
Richard: Who cares! John! She’s fantastic! She’s your best actress!
John: The only… actress.
Richard: The best of all of us.
Anne: We’re all so good.
TRACK 18
Tybalt (John): Boy, your words can’t excuse the harm you’ve done to me. So now turn and draw your
sword...
Romeo (Anne): I disagree. I’ve never done you harm. I love you more than you can understand until
you know the reason why I love you. And so, good Capulet—which is a name I love
like my own name—you should be satisfied with what I say.
Mercutio (Richard): This calm submission is dishonourable and vile. Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you go
fight me?
Tybalt (John): What do you want from me?
Mercutio (Richard): Good King of Cats, I want to take one of your nine lives. I’ll take one, and, depending
on how you treat me after that, I might beat the other eight out of you too. Will you pull
your sword out of its sheath? Hurry up, or I’ll smack you on the ears with my sword
before you have yours drawn.
16
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
TRACK 19
(The sound of trumpets breaks the scene. The Queen is coming. Everybody put on their knees.)
Announcement (Off): Queen Elizabeth I of England, queen of England and Ireland, daughter of Henry VIII, fifth
monarch of the Tudor dynasty, must be heard.
(Deathly silence.)
Elizabeth I (Off): I’ve been watching your rehearsals for some time now.
Richard: I should have stayed...
Elizabeth I (Off): Don’t talk. I know Shakespeare well enough to understand that you are doing a good job. You
are moved by passion as great artists and you live intensely the souls that the writer captured
in the works. However, breaches of the law in this company must be punished. Romeo of the
Montesque family, stand up and step forward.
Anne: My Queen. (Bowing.)
Elizabeth I (Off): Tell me your name.
Anne: Anne Hathaway. To serve you, my majesty.
Elizabeth I (Off): You’ll be punished for breaking the law.
17
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
(Anne faints and Shakespeare embraces her, and lifts her up on to the altar.)
TRACK 20
(Shakespeare looks at the Queen and Anne. He takes off the Juliet costume.)
Romeo (Shakespeare): O my love! my wife! It is time to join you in all eternity. Juliet, Why are you still so fair?
Death that hath sucked the honey of your breath has had no power yet spoil your
beauty. Shall I believe he has a plan in this? That insubstantial Death is amorous,
keeping you perfect for his paramour? For fear of that I still will stay with thee. And
never from this palace of dim night depart again. Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your
last embrace! and lips…
The doors of breath, be forever sealed with a righteous kiss. (Taking a bottle with
poison.) Come, bitter conduct; come, unsavoury guide! Here’s to my love! (Drinking
the poison.) O true apothecary! Your drugs are quick. (Juliet wake up slowly.) Juliet!
Juliet (Anne): Romeo! (Romeo and Juliet kiss… then, he collapses because of the poison and Juliet
realises what is happening. The friar approaches Juliet.)
Juliet (Anne): No! O comfortable friar! Where is my lord? Where is my Romeo?
Friar Laurence (Richard): Oh no, Romeo… My boy… I hear some noise. Lady, come, come away. Your husband
lies dead; and Paris too. Come, I’ll find you refuge among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay. (The friar moves away little by little.)
Juliet (Anne): Go, get hence, for I will not away. (Exit Friar). (Taking the small bottle.) O churl! You
drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss your lips. Haply some
poison yet doth hang on them to make me die. Your lips are warm!
Officer (John): Lead, boy. Which way?
Juliet: Noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger! (Taking Romeo’s small knife.) This is your
sheath; there rest and let me die. (She stabs herself and died.)
18
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
TRACK 21
Elizabeth I (Off): It’s was really... touching. But I can’t ignore the law. John and Anne Hathaway, you are going
to be imprisoned for breaking the law, leave the theatre immediately.
John: (To Anne.) Come on, the guards are waiting for us.
(John and Anne are going to leave but Shakespeare intervenes just in time.)
Shakespeare: Your Majesty! You know the writer Shakespeare, don’t you?
Elizabeth I (Off): I had the honour of meeting him at a royal party.
Shakespeare: What if I told you that you had him in front of you? (He tips his hat.)
Anne: Shakespeare!!!!????
Elizabeth I (Off): More surprises!
Richard: I should have stayed at the Globe Theatre, inside, while it burned...
Shakespeare: Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is no better company to perform my plays. I have come
this far by losing hope in myself. I feel ashamed not to fight for the person I see every day
at sunrise in front of the mirror. (To the public.) What do you see when you wake up in the
morning? Who accompanies you to eat, to laugh, to walk when the sun goes down and you lie
down in Morpheus’ sleep? You! Are we not able to feel, to love, to enjoy? And we still want to
be another person and not fight for life! Wish we were someone else? Better to envy oneself,
to love oneself! (To front.) Look for the inspiration that will make you breathe and move on!
(Looking at the Queen’s box.) Anne just wants to act, John wants to direct a play, Richard...
well I still don’t know exactly what Richard wants, but we all want something. Right now I’ve
just discovered that I love words, writing and bringing them to life. If my heart races when I
write a passage in my own handwriting, it’s nothing compared to seeing and feeling an act
surrounded by all my peers. And all of it... everything I have, what I feel, what I write... is
because I love... (Approaching Anne and taking her hands.) I truly love!
TRACK 22
Hamlet (Shakespeare): To be, or not to be… that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and
by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep. No more; and by a sleep to say we end the
heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the
rub. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this
mortal coil, must give us pause. There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long
life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor’s wrong, the
19
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, the insolence of
office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might
his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat
under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered
country from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather
bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does
make cowards of us all and thus the native hue of resolution is sickled o’er with the
pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their
currents turn awry and lose the name of action.
TRACK 23
Elizabeth I (Off): Sir William Shakespeare... You follow some laws to write.
Shakespeare: And they change as my heart dictates.
Elizabeth I (Off): Can you imagine what would happen if in a I changed the laws as my heart dictated? It would
be a disaster, chaos!
Shakespeare: Your Majesty, not as long as that heart is carried by kindness.
Elizabeth I (Off): I must admit I enjoyed your rehearsals. I will forgive your wrongs.
Elizabeth I (Off): I’m not finished! (They all become scared.) I’ll turn a blind eye just this once. From now on
you will not be able to perform here in England again. (Richard says “good” by mistake...)
Goodbye, my dear Queen’s actors.
(The trumpet sounds for the Queen’s exit and the four actors get down on their knees again. When the Queen
has gone, they get up and Anne speaks to Shakespeare.)
20
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
Richard: Well, in Spain women can act, and Shakespeare knows some important poets.
Shakespeare: It may be true what you say. And add the magnificent landscapes over there.
John: Going back to Spain with these unhappy people?
Anne: “¿Por qué no? Mi acento español es muy bueno” (With British accent.)
John: Horrible, that’s scary.
Richard: Will you accept us, Mr. Director? We want to go and eat puchero.
John: It can be interesting, and having a celebrity like Shakespeare...
Shakespeare: Who is this Shakespeare?
Richard: Ah! Don’t start again.
Anne: And your best “boy” actor.
Richard: Divine comedy...
John: It’s all right! I accept.
Shakespeare,
Richard
andAnne: ¡Olé!
John: After all… (To the public.) I miss that energetic Spanish applause.
(Expecting applause.)
THE END
21
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
22
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
§ grateful: thankful
§ guards: people keeping watch
§ happy ever after: said at the end of a story when everyone and everything ends well
§ to heal: to repair (body or soul)
§ heartache: when a heart which is emotionally hurt or damaged
§ heart racing: a heart beating fast
§ an heir: a person legally entitled to property or rank after another person’s death. Often the next in
line (genealogy)
§ hero/heroine: a person with good moral ethics, who puts others before themselves and demonstrates
superior qualities as a person
§ a hit: a success
§ humble: modest, living or behaving as a person with little means but happy
§ to imply: to insinuate
§ to be imprisoned: to be trapped, as a prisoner
§ indecisive: a state of indecision, difficulty coming to a conclusion
§ to insult someone: to offend someone
§ investigate: to look into something, look for clues and further information
§ jester: someone who makes others laugh, often a role in a Tudor court
§ kindness: to be friendly, warm and generous in nature
§ landscape: the area/terrain around somewhere
§ law: system of rules
§ to let your hair down: to relax, have a good time with no stress or worries
§ length: the long measurement of something
§ to lie / to tell a lie: to be dishonest about something
§ to lose hope: to become despondent or disillusioned
§ manuscripts: a book or document written by hand
§ noble: belonging by rank, title or birth to the aristocracy
§ nobleman: a person belonging by rank, title or birth to the aristocracy
§ to oppose: to disagree with and attempt to prevent something
§ passage: an extract in a piece of writing
§ peers: people of the same age, class, rank as you
§ playwright: a person who writes plays
§ to play a trick on someone: to behave in a deceptive or teasing way to someone
§ to plug: to fill a hole
§ pocket: a small bag sewn into clothing so as to form part of it
§ poet: a person who creates poetry
§ pranks: jokes
§ to pretend: to behave so as o make it appear that something is the case when in fact it is not
§ punishment: a penalty for doing something wrong
§ a query: a question
§ quintessential: representing the most perfect or typical example of something
§ to : to hold power as royalty
§ revenge: to hurt or harm someone in return for a wrongdoing
23
SHAKESPEARE RETURNS
24
2019-2020
CENICIENTA SOLO QUIERE BAILAR
Educación Infantil, Primer y Segundo Curso de Primaria
EL ÚLTIMO BAOBAB
Tercer a Sexto Curso de Primaria, Primer y Segundo Curso de E.S.O.
ANIVERSARIO
ANIVERSARIO