On December 12, 2020, I held a video reading of my new Christmas play SHAKESPEARE’S LOST CHRISTMAS PLAY. Here ’tis!

The back story: A teacher in Utah, who has previously produced some of my work, contacted me in September and asked if I would write a Christmas play for her class. It needed to fit her cast size, gender mix and time limits. Plus, it had to be done in a socially distanced fashion, plus she wanted it about trying to produce a show during the pandemic. I changed that to the plague in Shakespeare’s day.

The cast:

* Erasmus a peasant who has perpetually bad luck on stage: Mason Micesvki, Hamilton, Ontario
* Ann, a peasant who doesn’t much like Erasmus and wants to be a snowflake in the pageant: Ella Kennedy, Hamilton, Ontario
* Thomasina, another peasant who wants to be a snowflake in the pageant: Kaiya Hoagland, Bonsack, Virginia.
* Bartholomew, a peasant who isn’t very bright: Scott Cooper, Waterloo, Ontario
* Susan, a peasant who is always hungry: Emily Bolyea-Kyere, Hamilton, Ontario
* Emma, a peasant who is depressed, until she’s not: Giselle Magie, Hamilton, Ontario
* Toby, a peasant who is naïve: William Thomas, Hamilton, Ontario
* Olivia, a peasant given to conspiracy theories: Irene Kenney, Memphis, Tennessee
* Roger, a peasant just returned from London, practical: Stephen Baltz, Christiansburg, Virginia.
* Joan the stage manager, the practical type : Arlene Thomas, Kitchener, Ontario
* Hortense the director: Cheryl Carter, Lynchburg, Virginia.
* The royal herald, who delivers a message Heather Sexton, Salem, Virginia
* The Plague Doctor, who appears in the costume of a medieval plague Doctor , Aisha Mitchell, Radford, Virginia
* Stage directions: B.A. Ciccolella, Norfolk, Virginia