Cressida

Nicholas Wright

WHO    Honey, an eighteen-year-old boy actor.

TO WHOM    Stephen, a fourteen-year-old ‘would-be’ boy actor.

WHERE    The costume store of Gunnell’s theatre, London.

WHEN 1630s

WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED    The play is based on real-life characters who formed part of London’s theatre community in the 1630s. Shank is an older actor and trainer of boy players, of whom Honey is the lead. He has two others in his employment. However, in order to stage A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he needs five more to play the fairies. These he has hired from a rival producer, Master Gunnell. But when one of Gunnell’s boys, Stephen Hammerton, arrives at the Globe Theatre with news of Master Gunnell’s sudden disappearance, Shank fears he will be ruined. Gunnell has fled to avoid his creditors. Shank had invested five hundred pounds in Gunnell’s theatre, with a view to signing up the best boys once Gunnell had trained them. He borrowed the money from the Board of his own theatre and now has to find some way of paying it back. Stephen, who is desperate to be one of Shank’s players, asks Honey if he will help him steal costumes from Gunnell’s store. In this way he hopes to help raise funds for Shank and in return hopes that Shank will reward him with a place in the company. Stephen, who is in awe of Honey, wants to know what it is that makes him such a good actor. The speech that follows is Honey’s response

WHAT TO CONSIDER

•	The historical background. You may need to familiarise yourself with early-seventeenth-century theatre practice and to read Nicholas Wright’s Afterword at the back of the playtext.
•	Honey is a well-respected and admired player. Titania is one of his finest roles.
•	He is worldly-wise, savvy and a bit of a tart.
•	He is on the cusp of manhood and knows that his career is in the balance. By the end of the play he is cast as the Messenger, his hair is short and he has grown a moustache.
•	The ‘Jhon’ to whom he refers is the boys’ dresser.
•	Honey is high from smoking opium. I do not suggest that you play ‘stoned’, but you can decide to what extent Honey’s vivid description is born out of this altered state.

WHAT HE WANTS

•	To reflect on his own success as if he knows it is coming to a close.
•	To savour his moment of glory and to rest in its glow.
•	To intrigue and to impress Stephen. Honey knows Stephen to be a terrible actor, but nevertheless a potential rival. Decide to what extent Honey is toying with him.
•	To explain his sexuality.

KEYWORDS  amazing  flying  wings  stolen  special

Honey

It’s different at different times. […] Well, when you’re young, you’re just a child being clever. Then it changes. […] When you get older. When other boys get tall and clumsy. And their voices drop two million pegs. We don’t do that. We hang on. […] We just do. It’s like a baby falling down a well. You’ve got its foot in your hand and you don’t let go. So you’re not one thing exactly. You’re half-man, half-boy. That’s when you find you can really do it. And it’s amazing. It’s better than beer or wine. It’s better than smoking. It’s like flying. It’s like finding that wings have suddenly sprouted from your shoulders. You come on stage and everything happens the way it’s meant to. And nobody in the audience looks at anyone else. Because you live in a sort of stolen time that they can’t get to. Except through you. And it could disappear at any moment. You’re like a soldier on the eve of battle. Every night could be your last. And everyone wants to be that special person on that special night. That’s my theory. That’s why they grab old Jhon, J, H, O, N, and give him notes for us. It’s why they hang about at the Actors’ Door.

He puts out the pipe, starts getting out of his dress.

I still get letters every day. Not just from men. Everyone thinks I’m just a boyish bugger. That’s not true. I see women as well. They’re even stranger than the men are. They ask me to supper and want me to bring my gown and make-up.

He stands, the gown in his arms.

Take it.

We’ll carry them back to Shanky. He’ll pay his debt to the Board and you’ll stay on. Isn’t that what you wanted?