I AM SHAKESPEARE

‘I mean, it’s got to be the man from Stratford. They’ve got his birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s cottage. I went there once on Mrs Somerville’s school trip’  

The ‘authorised version’ isn’t always the whole story.  

Mark Rylance performs in a unique and intimate one-off rehearsed reading of his play I Am Shakespeare – a witty and fascinating exploration of a literary puzzle that may never be solved.   

English teacher Frank Charlton is sitting in his garage in Maidstone, recording yet another live webcast about the true authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. As usual, most of the hotline calls are coming from his neighbour, Barry. But on this particular night he receives some unexpected visitors – and they’ve got a case to make.   

A comical and curious play from the mind of one of the most commended modern Shakespearean actors, I Am Shakespeare probes the unknown and prods our love of certainty. 

Performed by David Conrad, Sean Foley, Mark Gatiss, Colin Hurley, Sam Parks, Juliet Rylance andMark Rylance, narrated by Annabel Leventon with music by Claire van Kampen. The reading will be accompanied by talks from Mark Rylance and Shakespearean Authorship Trustees in celebration of the Trust’s 100th anniversary.