"If the sons of famous fathers have a problem making their mark in the world, spare a thought for the fathers whose sons have eclipsed them, both in their own lifetime and beyond the grave. Bailiff of Stratford upon Avon he may have been, but John Shakespeare's achievements in the public eye come down to one thing - he fathered William.

In this one man show, actor Colin George takes pity on John, puts him into the motley and pushes him into the limelight to give us his version of life with his eldest son Will, and of course to find as many references to himself, and evidence of his fatherly influence, as he can, in his son's writing.

Polonius is perhaps the character George's portrait of John puts us most in mind of - affable, garrulous, and a touch too self-important. But George rescues his character from our ridicule by endowing him with a sense of humour and a comic skill in the telling of a lengthy anecdote. What little is known of the great playwright's life is familiar material and his "ghostly father" brings us no new revelations. But George is good at setting the social milieu and atmosphere of the small market town where William grew up, and of the bustle, stench and shifting political sands of the London he escaped to, in a lively, refreshingly unreverential performance, directed by Anthony Naylor."
Ann FitzGerald
Ann Fitzgerald is the critic of the professional actors journal 'The Stage'. She is their regular correspondent reviewing the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company.