"_" " I finished "Richard III."" "Richard III is Topcliffe, isn't he?" "I shall soon rise to a position more elevated than my young self could ever have imagined." "Do you have any idea how dangerously Alice is involved with Southwell?" "You have to make a choice, Alice..." "Will or peace?" "All those hateful things I said that broke us apart," "I only said them because your mother begged me to." "My choice is made." "I know of a Catholic plot to kill the Queen." " Alice!" "The book!" " No, no, no, no, Alice!" "You let Alice be taken to save yourself!" " It was God's will!" " Southwell's book." "Topcliffe arrested Alice." "You have pain, but we have words." "Where are your words now?" "_" "There was a girl brought in last night." "Catholic." "Please." "I must see her." "She is a Catholic traitor." "All she wants is peace." "Wrong way to go about it." "I know of Walsingham's visit." "Topcliffe is undoubtedly a great man." "Undoubtedly." "But in his passion to snare Southwell, his judgment may slip." "You are the law." "And I promise you, if anything happens to this girl, you will answer to Walsingham for it." "All I ask is to see her." "Briefly then." "Almighty God, since thou delayest with such forbearance the punishments which we have deserved, and daily draw on ourselves, grant, that we may not indulge ourselves..." "Alice." "How does this help England's cause?" "I'm taking her home." "I can't let you do that." "But Topcliffe cannot be trusted." "Do not take the death of an innocent girl upon your conscience." "Tell Topcliffe she died of her injuries, and all will be well." "Please." "Quickly." "Before the watch changes." "Justice Young, what are you doing?" "Do not be alarmed." "I've spoken with Mr. Topcliffe." "He has authorized the release of the girl." "I'll provide thee with a warrant." "Aah!" "Aah!" "Carefully consider how often and in how many different ways we have provoked thy wrath..." "Topcliffe!" "Stay with me, Alice." "The Jailer slaughtered." "I missed them by moments." "Filthy Catholics!" "Will they stop at nothing?" "Oh, my gosh." "Search the market!" "Search the market!" "Come on!" "They're in here somewhere!" "For God sake, bring them to heel!" "Get them back on the search!" "Master Shakespeare." "Please, can I come in?" "Will." "What in God's name?" "I..." "Please, she needs a doctor." "Topcliffe?" "Yes." "Very well." "I'll..." "I'll fetch my personal physician." "He's discreet." "Please, Alice." "Please." "We'll search house to house." "Hire more men." "Draw up the necessary warrants." "I must find her." "But, sir, surely there's no need for such expense and effort." "What if Marlowe was indeed correct and she is but a pawn, a recent convert?" "They murdered a servant of the crown in their efforts to rescue her, and you think she's not important?" "No, sir." "Of course." "You're right." "The dull legal mind oft is slower to the chase than that of a man of action." "We will find her." "Do your duty, Justice Young." "Yes, sir." "Of course." "The monster..." "I spoke with him." "I dined with him." "I should have plunged a dagger into his heart." "If I had killed him, he could not have done this." "Peace, Will." "I will have no peace until Topcliffe is dead." "How is she?" "Weak." "I bled her." "She has undoubtedly witnessed horrors." "But she will recover?" "Her body, yes." " But her..." " Thank you." "Her soul will take longer to heal." "Thank you, Simon." "Let me show you out." "Let's keep this between us." "Good lad." "Topcliffe must die." "Vengeance, Will." "Yes." "Alice..." "I want to thank you... for inspiring me, for understanding me better than I understood myself." "I love you... with everything I have to love another human soul." "But I cannot... and will not... ever forgive myself for all the ways that I've hurt you." "I'm doing what I should have done a long time ago." "I'm leaving you in peace." "Goodbye... my bright angel." "Don't do it." "Do not make me drag the corpse of William Shakespeare through the rest of my days." "Stay your course." "Stick to the plan." "Punish him with the play." " It's not enough." " Please, Will... if you ever loved me..." "Just promise." "Promise." "Take me home." "James, sit down!" "Where in damnation is that girl?" "Open up!" "Open up!" "Tear it apart!" " No one's seen her." " And I can't find Will." "What do you mean you can't find Shakespeare?" "Oh, Alice!" "Oh." " She'll be all right." " Oh, my baby." "What have they done to you?" " What... what happened?" " Yes, what happened?" "There'll be time to talk anon." "Alice needs to rest." "Oh, yes, just take her upstairs." "Oh, duckling, you had us worried sick." "I don't understand." "Where did you find her?" "I can't tell you, Richard." "Can't tell me?" "Why?" "Alice made me promise not to." "Then at least tell me how you knew where to find her." "It's complicated." "We're friends, Will." "Just tell me the truth." "I..." "I love Alice." "Of course." "Everyone loves Alice." "No." "I love her." "Love her?" "But you're married." "Shakespeare and Alice?" "Why didn't you tell me?" "I thought it best not to." "Foolish woman." "She's my sister!" "How could you betray me like that?" "!" "You've been lying to me for months!" "If I'd known, this would never have happened." "Get up and fight me, you piece of shit!" "I'm not gonna fight you, Richard." "Coward!" "I told you to stay away from my daughter!" "You're right." "It's my fault." "It's my fault." "All of it is my fault." "Leave my house and my theatre, and never return!" "If you ever see you again, I will kill you!" "I'll go, but first, we must do "Richard III."" ""Richard III"?" "!" ""Richard III"?" "!" "We will burn your work and never speak the name Shakespeare again!" ""Richard III" is Topcliffe." "Topcliffe did this to me." "What?" "What?" "W-why?" "Why would Topcliffe..." "We must fight him with this play." "Fight... fight him with this play?" "What have you got her mixed up in?" "Topcliffe was looking for someone with a cut hand." "You had a cut hand!" "He was looking for you!" "Why?" "Why?" " Why?" "!" " I'm a Catholic." "Catholic?" "I'm Catholic." "Catholic?" " I knew it." " Listen to me, Father." "No!" "No, you nearly died!" "Is Topcliffe still searching for you?" "Yes." "Right." "That's it, we're closing the theatre and leaving London." " What?" " You're not listening to me, Father." "There's no time to talk." "We'll go to my sister's." " Topcliffe will find you!" " This is your doing." "The only way to save Alice is with the play." "How can a play save..." "The Queen values her reputation above all things." "Well, the Queen can do what she bloody well likes!" "No!" "If we publicly shame Topcliffe," "Hunsdon cannot support him to Her Majesty." "And Walsingham will strip Topcliffe of all his powers." "He's right." "I agree." "It may not be a good chance, but it's our only chance." "It could get us all killed." "Better to die on our feet than live on our knees." "That's what we all believe in." "It's why you risked everything to build the first theatre in London, and why we're players and not glovemakers or carpenters." "I'll support whatever decision you make, James." "Aah!" "M-my King!" "My... my..." "Not even a poxy ghost to keep me company." "That's right." "That's right." "It's done." "I have been to hell and back for you." "It's not the girl!" "Keep searching!" "Out of your mind, Will." "Out of your mind!" "It's insanity!" "This is suicide!" "All right!" "All... all right!" "All I ask is that you hear Shakespeare out." "But won't Topcliffe have us all killed?" "If the play fails to convince Hunsdon, then... yes." "But we're only players." "We're merely players." "If we convince Hunsdon and the other aristocrats to turn their backs on Topcliffe," "Walsingham will have the excuse he needs to remove Topcliffe from power." "If Topcliffe become spymaster, he'll be the most powerful man in England." "And that's not all." "Alice..." "She..." "Topcliffe... detained Alice." " He tortured her..." " What?" "And he almost killed her." "Jesus Christ!" "Why?" "!" "He's a devil." "We know Topcliffe killed Baxter." "The time has come to fight for what we believe in." "We are at war, friends, and our only weapons are words." "Master Shakespeare may have his faults... but his words have power." "And I, for one, will stand on this stage and say them on my own if I have to." "I'll stand with you, son." " And I." " And I." "And I." "And I." " And I." " And I." " And I." " And I." "Then we are one." "I'm in the mood to celebrate." "Screw you, Marlowe." "Finally." "And I thought you'd gone off me." "Tommy... let me tell you about a man named Barrett Emerson." "He was an artist, the first true artist I'd ever met." "He made me believe I could be me." "The thrill, the... liberation of being truly seen for the first time is... intoxicating." "I was like a great, stupid child armed with a broadsword, slicing and swiping at everything and everyone." "Drunk on the power of being Christ-opher bloody Marlowe." "I was insufferable." "Finally, not even Barrett could bear me any longer." "When he left... the stars extinguished and the sky was so suffocatingly black that I almost expired." "But... when I pulled myself out from under the weight of my despair," "I found I was cold and hard... glittering like a diamond." "And I vowed never again to let another human soul pierce my sparkling carapace." "But when he died... when he died..." "I shattered like glass." "That's why I pushed you away." "I couldn't bear to be hurt like that again." "I'll never hurt you, Kit." "Of course you will, Tommy." "That's what love is." "But I'm stronger now." "I've confronted my fears." "And I finished my play." "Thank God, Kit." "I was beginning to think you'd lost your ascendancy." "Everyone's talking about Shakespeare's new one." "Are they?" "Yes." "I overheard some of the actors say it's as if the very devil is on stage." "The Devil?" "But that's my play." "Not the Devil." "I gather the protagonist is a representation of the devil." "Shall we see it?" "Everyone's going." "Going?" "To the devil?" "Yes, it seems everyone is." "Master Shakespeare?" "Forgive me." "The servants let me in." "I came to tell you that all is ready for our performance tomorrow." "Yes." "You will be there?" "I suppose so." "But... it is your day of days, sir." "Tomorrow, all of London will see the great man you truly are." "Have you ever felt so close to something, you could almost taste it, yet, it remains maddeningly out of reach?" "You seem troubled." "There was a girl, a Catholic whore." "Given time, she could have led me to Southwell." "But she escaped." "Yes." "But I will find her." "And when I do," "I shall have full liberty with her." "Why do you stare?" "I..." "I was remembering... all the special times we've shared at this table together." "Please... come to the play." "All the best people in London will be there." "And you deserve to be shown to the world." "These past few weeks have indeed been a very... special time." "Master Shakespeare," "I am unaccustomed to having friends." "I beg of you, come to our play." "Your wish is my command." "Yes." "Yes!" "How are you feeling?" "Stronger." "You should be careful." "Topcliffe still searches." "In truth..." "I wish I had killed him." "Do you really think your dying to avenge me is what I would want?" "No." "And yet..." "You were not born to kill... or to be killed, but to learn and to grow and to bedazzle us with your words." "Alice..." "I love you." "I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you." "And I you." "And I love you still." "But I've always wanted to be more than what I born to be." "And we can be... together." "When we first met..." "I thought you were the answer." "But I realize now I must find my own path." "Yes." "I'll be there to help you." "Our play today will succeed." "And when it does, we can make The Theatre great again." "A partnership of equals." "A marriage of minds and souls." "We can build a future together." "Promise me you believe that." "Please." "Tell me you believe that." "That's all I ask." "Yes..." "Will." "I believe this play will change both our futures." ""Richard III" by William Shakespeare!" ""Richard III" by William Shakespeare!" "Richard..." "It's going to be okay." "You will be great." "Breathe." "Breathe." "Mr. Topcliffe!" "Mr. Topcliffe, how wonderful to see you." "My family." "Lovely to meet you all." "Master Shakespeare has drawn my portrait in his play today." "We are so looking forward to it." "Come, Constance, let us take our seats on stage with the other important guests." "Thank you, Master Shakespeare." "'Tis my pleasure, Mr. Topcliffe." "Fear not, Master Shakespeare." "Today's performance will be as written." "Oh." "Oh." "Oh, oh!" "Oh." "I can't do it." "Richard..." " What if I can't do it?" " You can." "If thou art afeared... look to me." "Christ." "I was intrigued to learn that you would be here today." "I thought you were not a theatre devotee." "Oh, but I am." "Today, you shall see the very portrait of a fine, Protestant hero." " You know the play?" " I do." "The foremost character is modeled upon myself." "Really?" "Tell me, is everything in order for our audience with Her Majesty tomorrow?" "Fear not." "By tomorrow evening, you shall be spymaster." "Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of York, and all the clouds that loured upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean, buried." "But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking glass, deformed, unfinished, sent before my time into this breathing world, scarce half made up, and that so lamely and unfashionable" "that dogs bark at me as I halt by them." "Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, have no delight to pass away the time, and therefore, since I cannot prove a lover..." "I am determined to prove a villain." " How are we faring?" " It's too early to tell." "Simple, plain Clarence." "I do love thee so that I will shortly send thy soul to heaven." "But soft!" "Here come my executioners." "Shall we stab him as he sleeps?" "No." "Then he will say 'twas done cowardly, when he wakes." "When he wakes!" "Why, fool, he will never wake till the judgment day." "The urging of that word, "judgment"..." "I hope you're right about this, Master Shakespeare." "Bred a kind of remorse in me." "What?" "Conscience is a dangerous thing." "It makes a man a coward." "Go!" "Go, dispatch!" "Hark!" "He stirs!" "Shall I strike?" "In God's name, what art thou?" "Look behind you, my lord!" "And..." "And..." "Modeled on you, you say?" "No, I misspoke." "Heavenly Father, pray you give me the strength to do your bidding here on Earth, and to follow your loving path with humility..." "And thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends stolen forth of Holy Writ, and seem a saint... when most I play the devil." " Papa, which one are you?" " Be quiet, Beth!" " Ooh." " Why'd you persuade me into this?" "I can't go out in front of Topcliffe!" "It's only nerves." "I'm just a poxy street rat." "No." "Presto... today... you're a prince." "Sweet prince!" "Will't please you please pass along?" "I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower." "You need not fear no uncles dead." "And if they live," "I hope I need not fear." "But come, my lord, I go unto the Tower." "Shall I be plain?" "I wish the bastard dead!" "Murderer!" "I did but dream..." "Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh." "Is there a murderer here?" "No." "Yes." "I am." "Perjury... perjury in the highest degree." "Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree." "All several sins, all used in each degree, throng to the bar, crying all, "Guilty!" "Guilty!"" " Guilty!" "Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "♪♪" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" " Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "Cease this abomination now!" "She is a Catholic whore!" "Father, sit down!" "Sit down, Richard!" " Richard the Third!" " Sit down!" "You're making a spectacle of us all." "Yeah, go on!" "Sit down!" "Now die, Richard." "A horse!" "A horse!" "My kingdom for a horse!" "The day is ours!" "The bloody dog is dead." "Yes!" "England hath long been mad and scarred herself." "Now civil wounds are stopped, peace lives again!" "That she may long live here," "God say amen." "Amen!" "Death to tyrants!" "Swive thee, William Shakespeare." "Lord Hunsdon, I am so looking forward to our audience with Her Majesty tomorrow." "But my appointment..." "Do you think the Queen will appoint a mockery as her most trusted advisor?" "You can no longer flout England's laws, Mr. Topcliffe." "In fact, you will be lucky if we do not withdraw your commission entirely." "Yeah!" "We did it!" "We did it!" "Ruff, ruff." "The devil on stage." "Well done, Master Shakespeare." "Thank you... for it all." "Did you find something to believe in?" "Belief is just a state of mind." "That's good." "I know." "What are you working on next?" "What a miserable, mother-swiving profession it is to be a writer." "My darling Will," "I do love you and shall forever, but I cannot live in your world any longer." "There is too much pain, too much heartache." "I need to find peace, to pursue a love that is far greater than you or I." "You have a great gift, William Shakespeare." "Use it to continue to make things which are beautiful and good." "And one day, I hope you also find the peace you seek." "God crossed our paths for a reason." "I will never forget you, or all you taught me." "But now my path must continue separate to yours." "I have gone to find what more there is for me to be." "Goodbye, my love." "Promise me that you will not try to find me." "I am happy." "I am with God." "Your once... bright... angel," "Alice."