This play depicts Anne as a rather eloquently well-spoken woman rather than the common, farm-stock person she probably was. Anne, here, is verbose and rather lyrical indicating that her influence on Will might have been more essential to his creations than is usually supposed. As played by Katrina Ferguson she is rather more elegant and imposing than reality indicates. He never brought her to London, never showed her off to his friends and compatriots. She just existed in his background and in Stratford-Upon-Avon, a town too small for even  his early troupe of roaming players to visit.  What she meant to him is of no interest to this playwright, but his importance to her is what interests him. Director Nathan Stitih has brought a dynamic into this play as he takes Anne, played by the incredible Katrina Ferguson in an elegant gown designed by Ken Mooney, through her lengthy but fascinating monologue, from her early days through her son's death   from comedy to tragedy through her history.   Playwright, director and actress combine their talents here to bring an elegance to a commoner, and it works all too well.

        Based on the sketch above Ferguson shares some physical attributes with Hathaway. She certainly has an exotic  and appealing look that could attract a man of Shakespeare's imaginative personality. Her voice is a special combination of expressions as it has a mannish strength with a delicacy of tone that is alluring. She utilizes a full range of emotions; her body language is as varied as her speech. In the final moments of the play she mourns for many people including herself and tears at the hearts of the audience. It is a full-bodied performance of a complex text based barely in reality but more fully in a playwright's fertile imagination.