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nigellicus 's review for:
King of Shadows
by Susan Cooper
The new Globe Theatre in London was opened in 1997. (I've been there. We saw Vanessa Redgrave rehearsing the part of Prospero in The Tempest. I would have cheerfully offered up one of my vital organs for a chance to see the performance.) This book was published in 1999. I see that it is not available on the Globe's online shop, but if it isn't for sale in the gift shop itself then the Globe is doing a disservice to both itself and Miss Cooper. King of Shadows is a heartfelt love letter to The Globe, old and new, to William Shakespeare and his plays and to theatre itself in all its rambunctious life and magic.
Nate Field is a young American actor brought over to London as part of a company made up entirely of boys to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in the new Globe Theatre - Nate is to play Puck. One night Nate goes to bed with a fever and wakes up in 1599 and finds himself taking the place of one Nathan Field, loaned by his theatre company to one William Shakespeare to play Puck in a command performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
Though the use of a time shift will be familiar to readers of Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence, King of Shadows feels as if it was written by a different writer. A much, much better writer (and I loved the Dark Is Rising books.) Nate is an intelligent resourceful hero who comes to grips with his predicament quickly, but he is emotionally repressed after the death of his father, losing himself in his acting. The shock of the time shift and meeting Shakespeare knocks something loose, and despite some grim realities and harsh treatment by a fellow player, he falls in love with the world and a warm, father-son relationship develops with Shakespeare himself, who only recently lost his own son, Hamnet.
Cooper brings the world of theatre, past and present, to warm life, full of strain and excitement and long hours and friendship and turbulent emotions. Nate's pain and loss finds expression through the language of the play, making Shakespeare real and vital utterly beautiful. This is a fantastic book.
Nate Field is a young American actor brought over to London as part of a company made up entirely of boys to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in the new Globe Theatre - Nate is to play Puck. One night Nate goes to bed with a fever and wakes up in 1599 and finds himself taking the place of one Nathan Field, loaned by his theatre company to one William Shakespeare to play Puck in a command performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
Though the use of a time shift will be familiar to readers of Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence, King of Shadows feels as if it was written by a different writer. A much, much better writer (and I loved the Dark Is Rising books.) Nate is an intelligent resourceful hero who comes to grips with his predicament quickly, but he is emotionally repressed after the death of his father, losing himself in his acting. The shock of the time shift and meeting Shakespeare knocks something loose, and despite some grim realities and harsh treatment by a fellow player, he falls in love with the world and a warm, father-son relationship develops with Shakespeare himself, who only recently lost his own son, Hamnet.
Cooper brings the world of theatre, past and present, to warm life, full of strain and excitement and long hours and friendship and turbulent emotions. Nate's pain and loss finds expression through the language of the play, making Shakespeare real and vital utterly beautiful. This is a fantastic book.