Christopher Harris: Review: FbTC's 'The Book of Will' honors theatre's greatest wordsmith with Globe-worthy performances

Feb. 18—In the Internet age, it's virtually unheard of that any written word might not be recorded for posterity.

I can do a quick Google search and find some silly article I read online 20 years ago. We take screenshots of conversations we have in text boxes. Documents we write are stored in something we call "the Cloud," which has ceased to be simply a term for a weather phenomenon and has become something more high-tech.

So it's almost impossible to consider that we almost didn't have some of the greatest works in western literature available to us today simply because no one bothered to write them down and print them.

That's the tragedy avoided by the characters of "The Book of Will," Flashback Theater Co.'s latest production, which began its run this past Thursday and will go through Sunday, February 26 at the Flashback's Black Box Theater located on College Street in Somerset.

What follows is a review (of sorts) about the play and what audiences can expect if they attend. It's not a truly objective review because a) I'm far too connected to Flashback Theater Co. and those involved to be in any way neutral, having acted in several plays for them myself, and b) I'd never want to trash anyone around here doing their best to make art and enrich the community culturally anyway. But I do like to share my thoughts and impressions about the play and its performances, and help give readers some insight as to whether or not it's something they'd be interested in seeing.

"The Book of Will" by Lauren Gunderson is based on true events — the efforts that led to the plays of William Shakespeare being collected into one single volume and ultimately passed down through the ages. Now, schoolchildren read them in classrooms across the world and countless scores of actors have played the roles both on stage and on film.

But Shakespeare didn't see his works as great literature to be studied academically — back in the 16th and 17th centuries, they were entertainment, produced quickly and efficiently for rowdy audiences at the Globe Theater in London. And no effort was made to put these things into print so other audiences could view them in other times and other places. Once the show was over, the limited scripts the actors got were largely tossed away, and they moved on to the next project.

Some of his plays were recorded by others in the form of quartos, cheap publications that were maybe more like a pamphlet than what we think of today as a true book. But they weren't always very accurate. Imagine your favorite movie. Now imagine it only screened once or twice, never went to DVD, never streamed online, and someone had tried to create a script after the fact, but couldn't remember all the dialogue and some of your favorite lines got changed or left out, or the plot isn't how you remembered it. That's what we're talking about here.

After Shakespeare died in 1616, many of his friends and actors remained in London on the theater scene. They had to watch lesser performers butchering these brilliant words their dear friend Will had imagined, and that they'd had such joy in bringing to life on stage. And this is where "The Book of Will" begins — with these friends wishing there was a way to keep Shakespeare's works alive and true for the actors who would come after them.

The key pair is Keifer Adkins, a Flashback Theater Co. regular, and Seth Hart, last seen in 2022's "The Mousetrap." They are a formidable presence on stage, individually and especially together, both men tall of stature and bold of voice. Hart gives off Jeffersonian vibes, lanky and intellectual, as John Heminges, as much a businessman as he is an artist. Without spoiling anything, Hart is able to play the role cool and calculated throughout, but has his opportunity to take the stage and pour his heart out in a scene of genuine emotion that is unlikely to leave any eye in the theater dry. Every actor in the piece gets at least one shining moment, it seems, and Hart ably makes the most of his.

Adkins has never forgotten that I once described him in a previous review as being "explosively ruffled," and he may hate to hear that I'd like to use that term again to describe his performance as Henry Condell, another Shakespeare contemporary, but it fits, even though it's only a fraction of what Adkins brings to the table. Adkins always pours himself headfirst into every role, and here plays the passionate prompt to Hart's reluctance about the daunting project. You are always sucked right into the play when Adkins is on stage; he grips the audience's attention with wide eyes and excited demeanor, and doesn't let you go. Without Condell's determination to see the folio through, Shakespeare would not be a household name today, and Adkins paints that picture masterfully in word and movement. Explosively, even.

As much as the men are at the forefront of this story, the women in support of them are every bit as crucial and compelling. I've both acted with and watched Tiffany Warren before, and this is the best she's ever been on stage, I believe, as Alice, John's daughter and London barmaid. Her sass in shutting down the flirtatious poet and Shakepeare's frenemy Ben Jonson is balanced by her role as a source of sage advice and encouragement, and Warren plays both — as well as coy coquette around young printer Isaac Jaggard — so, so well.

Johnna Atkinson-Bigelow gets some real scene-stealing moments in two different roles. Several actors in this play perform multiple parts — so be keenly observant of changes in wardrobe and mannerisms to tell them apart — and Atkinson-Bigelow thrives in two wildly different performances: one as a devoted mother and wife to Heminges with a backbone of steel, and the other ... I won't spoil it, but she really gets to vamp it up as a femme fatale-type in the role of a lady with whom Shakespeare lovers will be very familiar. It's fun to see her spread her wings and really play around with the latter part in particular, and Atkinson-Bigelow makes the absolute most of it.

Meanwhile, Laura Torres is Condell's wife Elizabeth. She's the picture of a perfect partner, supportive and challenging and just a little bit saucy, and in doing her second Flashback play after December's "Miracle on 34th Street," she's clearly grown in confidence on stage. So, too, have "Miracle" actors Tyler Fish and Shelby Holmes, both of whom play multiple parts in "Book of Will." I love seeing their growth as young actors who took the sometimes difficult material presented in this play and responded amazingly to the challenge.

Holmes displays clever comic timing in particular as editor Ralph Crane, and Fish's Isaac Jaggard hits satisfying emotional beats in conflict with his father, the antagonist of the piece (if there is one), cantankerous printer William Jaggard, played with shape-shifting slyness by Martha Pratt, another Flashback veteran who one feels could probably deliver a solid performance in her sleep at this point.

Thomas Alvey delivers every line in a way that goes down as smooth as one of the beers his character, Jonson, so loves to imbibe. Jonson is a philosophical opponent of Shakespeare's in style, but a fierce admirer of his friend's work. The role of the too-clever-for-his-own-good cad with a conscience is one Alvey excels in — but even his bit parts, like the young actor who makes a mockery of Hamlet's most famous lines at the beginning of this play, are played with enthusiasm and attention to detail.

For audiences who are familiar with the local theater scene, "The Book of Will" offers two captivating "cameos" of sorts, in longtime Somerset Community College director Steve Cleberg appearing as legendary thespian Richard Burbage and Flashback stalwart Amber Frangos as Shakepeare's wife, Anne. Cleberg gives a fire-and-brimstone performance, full of sound and fury, championing the greatness of the Shakepearean plays and cutting the imposters down to size with his sheer presence. He delivers an amazing running montage of Shakepeare's dialogue that will delight fans of the Bard to no end. And it's always good to see Frangos on stage, who has been with Flashback since more or less the very beginning. When she takes the stage, it's like an old friend is visiting with the audience and everything just feels at ease.

Isaac Martin and Rylee Moore make their Flashback Theater Co. debuts in smaller roles, but both deliver strong performances in their limited time. Martin plays a variety of parts, including getting to do the clever trick of announcing upcoming plays as Elizabethan citizens would have heard it done, adding atmosphere to the production. And Moore plays Shakespeare's daughter Susannah, who offers a fascinating glimpse into the relationship between the Bard and his offspring that I wish had been more thoroughly explored, had there been time and room to do so. Moore has only a little time on stage, but takes full advantage of it.

Director Sommer Schoch seems able to wring every bit of drama and emotional wallop from this material, and has created an environment that is convincingly of Shakespeare's world, confined to the small space that at one time was the Somerset City Council chambers in the old city hall building. (Shoutout to C.J. Bloomer for the exceptional and versatile set design, and Traci Bray for the spot-on costumes; while we're at it, Joshua West deserves appreciation for the always tough task of stage managing.) Making the most of the tight space is an art form onto itself, and Flashback has mastered utilization of a "black box" set-up at this point. Adding to the ambiance are musical interludes of modern songs played in Elizabethan style. You'll find yourself smiling once you recognize what they are.

A note must be made that there is some adult language in this play, so if you come, don't be shocked to hear it. Just remember that Shakespeare himself often used some pretty ribald words for his day as well, so it's nothing the Bard himself wouldn't have approved of — just take it in the spirit in which it's performed.

Jonson was convinced to write an introduction to that First Folio of Shakepeare's work. Attributed to Jonson is the declaration that Shakespeare was "not of an age, but for all time." This is undoubtedly true — and very nearly wasn't. Had it not been for people like Jonson, like Heminges, like Condell, like their wives and Alice and all the others involved in the story of "The Book of Will," we might not be able to read Shakespeare's works today. This is the story of devoted friends who made sure that this brilliant writer's works were indeed not of an age, but for all time. And, I believe, it is a performance that local audiences will remember for a long time as well.

"The Book of Will" is being presented at Flashback Theater Co.'s Black Box Theater, located at 400 East Mt. Vernon Street, on Sunday, February 19 at 2:30 p.m., Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, February 26 at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $18 in advance, $20 at the door for adults, and $12 in advance, $15 at the door for students. Seating is limited. Visit www.flashbacktheater.co for more information and to buy tickets. Or get tickets by calling (888) 394-FbTC, ext. 1, or visiting the Flashback Theater Co. office on East Mt. Vernon Street in downtown Somerset.