London Calling Will: New Life Breathed into the Badassery of Shakespeare

I’m going on record as an official fan of the new Will series. I was skeptical. I generally avoid overly promoted commercialized versions of beloved works, authors and studies. But, yes, the series had me at “London Calling.” Then it had me again with this seriously sexy-twisted version of Christopher Marlowe, who, I’ll admit, is my preferred writer between the two. Of course, just having returned from a visit to the rebuilt Globe, it all feels especially immediate.

If you haven’t given Will a try yet, go ahead. You will be pleasantly surprised, and if you are a Bard and Clash aficionado, you’ll be creatively jolted. More to come on this soon. 

*Do yourself a favor. If you are stuffed and unyielding history and Shakespeare buff, the kind that constantly points out the historical inconsistencies of Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet, and so on, please skip this series. You’ll not likely like it and the rest of us won’t like you. However, if you are in the camp of Shakespeare and his plays as a progressive experiment in truly classic and changeable experiences, you’ll be at home.

Thank you, TNT and Craig Pearce.

About Will (Imdb)

A drama about the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589 — when theatre was like rock and roll and a young man with a dream changed the world with his words.
 
 
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Rae Bryant
Founding Editor @ Eckleburg
Rae Bryant is the author of the short story collection, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals (Patasola Press). Her stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in print and online at The Paris Review, The Missouri Review, McSweeney’s, DIAGRAM, StoryQuarterly, Huffington Post, New World Writing, Gargoyle Magazine, and Redivider, among other publications. Her digital intermedia has exhibited in New York, DC, Baltimore and Florence, Italy. She has won prizes and fellowships from Johns Hopkins, Aspen Writers Foundation, VCCA and Whidbey Writers and has been nominated for the Pen/Hemingway, Pen Emerging Writers, The &NOW Award, Lorian Hemingway, and multiple times for the Pushcart award. Rae earned a Masters in Writing from Hopkins where she continues to teach new media, technology for writers and creative writing and is founding editor and designer of Eckleburg. She also teaches and lectures in the International Writing Program at The University of Iowa, The Eckleburg Workshops and American University where she is currently in the MFA program. She is represented by Jennifer Carlson with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency.