Will and Me

Fascinating reading from the Artistic Director of London's Globe Theatre. Through the prism of Dromgoole's life on-and offstage, the depth and breadth of Shakespeare's genius is given vivid new color in this memoir. From his early provincial life through some exciting foreign intrigue as the son of producer/director Patrick, Dromgoole engages the reader in some heady and thought-provoking examinations of life as "walked" by one man in the shadow of two, ultimately finding his own accomplished path. An unexpected treat, compelling as both history and biography reminding us just how impactful and relevant Shakespeare's legacy is to our own experience.

The Publisher's Weekly reviewer of this book seems to completely forget, when he/she says "too much Dromgoole, not enough Will", that this book is a memoir--it says so as part of the subtitle. So, yes, this book is a memoir of English Director Dominic Dromgoole's life, as Shakespeare has influenced and in some ways "directed" it. It is not necessarily, or primarily, a book "about" Shakespeare--the author did not intend it as such. The first part, entitled "The Life" is a telling of Dromgoole's life, through various encounters with Shakespeare...through his family, his student days, his acting and his directing. Snippets from Shakespeare's plays are inserted to highlight and instruct various aspects of living one's life. I find this entertaining and appealing, not earth-shattering in new ways of reading or interpreting Shakespeare. I found, though, even more engaging the second part of the book, called "The Walk", wherein Dromgoole sets out with his good friend Quentin (and at times, including others) on a sort of "pilgrimage" walk from Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon to the Globe Theatre in London (where Mr.Dromgoole is Artistic Director). It is a partly humorous, but nicely descriptive travelogue, as well as a discussion of the "meaning' of Shakespeare. The conversations between Mr. Dromgoole and Quentin were entertaining to read, and on more than one occasion, did, yes, make me think a little myself about what the genius of Shakespeare really is. This book is certainly not an academic treatise on Shakespeare, but is in some ways more useful to readers as it is highly personal. And maybe this is how Shakespeare really should be presented--he was the most personal of writers, amongst everything else.