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By Any Other Name
By Any Other Name
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Two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—are both forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard
In 1581, Emilia Bassano—like most young women of her day—is allowed no voice of her own
But as the Lord Chamberlain’s mistress, she has access to all theater in England, and finds a way to bring her work to the stage secretly
And yet, creating some of the world’s greatest dramatic masterpieces comes at great cost: by paying a man for the use of his name, she will write her own out of history
In the present, playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano
Although the challenges are different four hundred years later, the playing field is still not level for women in theater
Would Melina—like Emilia—be willing to forfeit her credit as author, just for a chance to see her work performed? Told in intertwining narratives, this sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire asks what price each woman is willing to pay to see their work live on—even if it means they will be forgotten.
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