Things are looking up

The last few years have been a whirlwind. We had a problem a while back when the lease for the land on which our theatre was built expired. That snake Giles Allen tried to tell us the building was part of the land as well. Well, we weren't about to be cheated out of something we'd worked so hard on so a group of us dismantled the building and rebuilt it on the other side of the Thames. The New Globe Theatre has been a rousing success!
So now, between the success of The New Globe, of which I'm now a partner, and the popularity of the play, Hamlet, I've been able to build up quite a nest egg. I'm looking forward to eventually moving back to Stratford where, a few years back, I brought a place called New Place. For the time being, however, I'll stay in London doing what I love best - writing plays.
I've got several ideas for plays in the works; a couple of comedies, one about a Moor and his manipulative ensign, and possibly one about an old king with a couple of less than ideal daughters. I'm also thinking about one that will enchant a king. Who knows, maybe it will even begin with a couple of witches. That should get everyone's attention.
There's no doubt about it - things are looking up.

Sonnet 130 - My personal favorite

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Grief Fills the Room

It's been two months since my son, Hamnet, died. He was only eleven and I regret not being there for him. I've been so involved with the theater and writing that I've completely ignored my family. Ironically, just today, I received word that my application for my family's coat of arms was finally approved. My father had first applied more than twenty years ago but was denied. This was my chance to provide my son with our family crest. It was my one gift to him and now he's gone.
I'm currently working on a new play, King John, and one of my characters, a mother, suffers from intense grief over her son's death. It reminded me of my own son and I wrote these words.

Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form.

I may have not always been there, but I loved my son as well as my other children very deeply, and pain will remain for a long time.

The Globe is where it's at

I am beyond excited about the opening of the Globe Theatre. I will be there seven days a week, taking in the beauty of its crowds as well as convincing the theatre to allow me to delight the audience with my newest play "Romeo and Juliet." Until my dream comes alive, I will be working the valet at the Globe. Ladies, come and say hi as I park some sweet wheels!

Here are some pics of the Globe Theatre:

No more ball & chain

Well I'm starting this blog to help me cope with life's changes and hardships that have surfaced. I have left Stratford and I am determined to start a new life for myself here in London, doing what I want to do when I want to do it.
Yes, that may sound harsh. And yes, I did leave my wife Anne and my three children behind. But one cannot judge me unless they know the full story, which they never will. I loved Anne at one time, but the restless, passionate side of me was slowly suffocating. The family life is not for me, and I wish I had known this before I made any commitment to an older woman.
I am not the husband type, who was I fooling? I need to love freely, openly, without apprehension or limits. I need to taste the sweet morning breath of all the women in the world to satisfy me, giving me inspiration to do what I do best- write.