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Richard Malory #1
The Playmaker
The year is 1597. Elizabeth is queen. Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men are packing London’s Globe Theatre. And the severed heads of Catholic insurgents are impaled on the Tower’s gates. One 14-year-old boy should arouse no one’s interest.
But within a week of his arrival, Richard Malory is robbed, beaten, and threatened at knifepoint. Someone wants him to leave London, and Richard is determined to find out why. There’s only one place he’ll be as an actor on the stage. As he begins to unravel the traitorous plot that has ensnared him, Richard must make a difficult decision. Will he play the part set out for him—or can he become the playmaker of his own life?
But within a week of his arrival, Richard Malory is robbed, beaten, and threatened at knifepoint. Someone wants him to leave London, and Richard is determined to find out why. There’s only one place he’ll be as an actor on the stage. As he begins to unravel the traitorous plot that has ensnared him, Richard must make a difficult decision. Will he play the part set out for him—or can he become the playmaker of his own life?
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2000
4 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
J.B. Cheaney
6 books28 followersJ. B. Cheaney’s The Playmaker was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Teens. She and her husband live in the Ozarks of Missouri.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 17, 2020
So after realising with much head shaking upon having finished with well over thirty percent of J.B. Cheaney’s The Playmaker that main protagonist Richard Malory had still not yet entered a London playhouse to join with the actors as an apprentice (and thus of course William Shakespeare also and so far not yet having made his appearance, even though the book description for The Playmaker does promise both Shakespeare as a character and also an exciting and engaging narrative, which though really has not been the case AT ALL by around page one hundred of The Playmaker), I have decided that The Playmaker really and truly is simply much too tedious and much too awkwardly dragging for me to continue reading J.B. Cheaney’s text and that before I get too massively bogged down and frustrated waiting for Richard to join his actors and for Cheaney’s narrative to pick up and to finally get to what the book synopsis actually advertises, I might as well stop reading and consider The Playmaker as an abandoned perusal.
Because I really do find it annoyingly aggravating when novels seem to meander aimlessly and exaggeratedly and somehow do not manage to get to the point, and yes indeed, for me and my reading wants and desires, it is absolutely and totally ridiculous that for almost one hundred odd pages, The Playmaker does text-wise simply have Richard Malory just traipse around Elizabethan London and for mostly personal and not really ever all that adequately explained reasons (and with J.B. Cheaney also kind of giving us readers massive and textbook, school-like historical information dumps, which might be interesting enough if I were a student sitting in class but which just gets annoyingly pedantic and preachy if I am reading a novel, and The Playmaker is of course supposed to be historical fiction and NOT a history lesson and Social Studies non fiction high school text).
And while yes, it might well be that once Richard Malory does join up with that group of London actors and encounters William Shakespeare, the contents, the story of The Playmaker could perhaps become more interesting and streamlined, after one hundred pages of tedium and of authorial pedantry, I for one have most definitely had enough and have firmly and without guilt and contrition decided to quit reading. For indeed and personally, I am also rather likely convinced that even once Richard joins the playhouse, J.B. Cheaney’s writing style would most probably still be as dragging and as textbook like information and name dropping as in the beginning, as at the start of The Playmaker, and I am just not in the mood to continue to subject myself to this. So definitely, here goes yet another one star DNF novel for me (and I am also now certainly not planning on trying the sequel any time soon, as I absolutely do majorly now doubt that The True Prince would likely be any better than The Playmaker).
Because I really do find it annoyingly aggravating when novels seem to meander aimlessly and exaggeratedly and somehow do not manage to get to the point, and yes indeed, for me and my reading wants and desires, it is absolutely and totally ridiculous that for almost one hundred odd pages, The Playmaker does text-wise simply have Richard Malory just traipse around Elizabethan London and for mostly personal and not really ever all that adequately explained reasons (and with J.B. Cheaney also kind of giving us readers massive and textbook, school-like historical information dumps, which might be interesting enough if I were a student sitting in class but which just gets annoyingly pedantic and preachy if I am reading a novel, and The Playmaker is of course supposed to be historical fiction and NOT a history lesson and Social Studies non fiction high school text).
And while yes, it might well be that once Richard Malory does join up with that group of London actors and encounters William Shakespeare, the contents, the story of The Playmaker could perhaps become more interesting and streamlined, after one hundred pages of tedium and of authorial pedantry, I for one have most definitely had enough and have firmly and without guilt and contrition decided to quit reading. For indeed and personally, I am also rather likely convinced that even once Richard joins the playhouse, J.B. Cheaney’s writing style would most probably still be as dragging and as textbook like information and name dropping as in the beginning, as at the start of The Playmaker, and I am just not in the mood to continue to subject myself to this. So definitely, here goes yet another one star DNF novel for me (and I am also now certainly not planning on trying the sequel any time soon, as I absolutely do majorly now doubt that The True Prince would likely be any better than The Playmaker).
September 15, 2014
Let's write a book about a boy who arrives in Shakespeare's London and ends up as a player in his company. That's a great idea!
*** here there be spoilers *** many spoilers follow *** Spoiler Alert! *** abounding spoilers to follow ***
I love historical stories about kids getting involved at the fringes of actual events and historical figures. I especially enjoy the Elizabethan period, and I love theater, so I ordered this book from the library, and looked forward to reading it.
Richard's mother has died, and he has been kicked out of his home, so he heads off to London, partly because the father who abandoned him was last heard from there.
The beginning of this book was disappointing; it read like a research-dump; information about Protestants executed by burning at Smithfield forty years in the past, and then a hodgepodge of vendors and what seems like a pointless interaction with a performing bear, to whom our starving and poverty-stricken hero surrenders half his food. (Enter the Theme of the Bear). He then gives up an additional two days' food money as a result of emotional blackmail to buy a string of beads to “remember” his mother by, despite the fact that he has carried away quite a few keepsakes belonging to her.
So, thus far our hero is dumb, and easily manipulated. He does have a plan, however, which is to go to the address where his father's last message came from. Great! A plan makes a character, and thus the story, have purpose. He goes to the address, a lawyer's office, and meets an overly-mysterious clerk, who gives him a name to say to get himself a job working on the docks for an import company. He gets the job, but gets beaten up a lot by the other boys. He stops one such beating by loudly reciting a psalm. He is overheard by a maidservant, who suggests that he meet her master. She also informs him that he is being watched, but she doesn't tell him what her master does, or what job is on offer. Our hero goes to her master's house, demonstrates his voice, and is invited to try out for the company.
But our hero is a Puritan. He believes that plays are of the devil. He leaves the house in a dudgeon and tells the maidservant to mind her own business!
The fact is, the only reason this character was made to be a Puritan is so that there would be CONFLICT when he is offered a position in a theater company. But neither his thoughts, nor his behavior, are consistent with puritanism. If he were so devout, why didn't he seek help from the pastor at the nearest church as soon as he got to town?
Then, a few days later, upon making delivery of barrels of wine, under cover of a street riot he is robbed of his mother's keepsakes. He decides that he is being watched, and must hide in the one place where no one will think to find him – as an actor on the stage. Uh huh. Thus, he goes to the audition. He has abandoned his barrow containing several expensive barrels of wine, and he has run off with all the money he has collected for the ones he has delivered, but he never gives that a thought – even though it is a hanging offense. We never hear what he did with the money. The writer seems to have forgotten these bits of baggage as soon as they weren't needed anymore to advance the plot.
Where would you hold the tryouts for your theater company? Hint: not at the Theater that you own, on an off day. No, you would hold them at the Mermaid Tavern, in public, in all that noise. Because that gets the Mermaid Tavern on the stage. And of course our hero succeeds in being accepted into the company, even though several company members are doubtful. Fortunately, William Shakespeare and Master Condell like him, and he moves into Condell's house as an apprentice.
There follows a tortuous plot about finding the people who know his father, who happen to be involved in an endless but unspecific popish plot against the queen, and people watching him who think he's involved because he contacted several of them, and trying to retrieve his stuff, and one person who's disguised as another person who's disguised as another person. The overall plot line of our hero wanting to find his father was sufficient to keep me reading – I wanted to know how the mystery turned out – but I stopped trying to keep track of who was who, because there was always another turn which didn't lead anywhere. I would have needed to start a list to keep everything straight, and it wasn't worth it.
Meahwhile, our hero is learning his craft as an actor. And here the book really fell down. The writer is under the impression that backstage of a play is chaos. That actors drop their clothes when they take them off, and don't know where costume pieces or props are located. The fact is, props are always in their assigned place, and costumes – which were expensive – would have been treated with care except in extraordinary circumstances. The writer is also under the impression that the tiring master would shout at a player backstage. During a play. The text says “shout.” The tiring room is separated from the stage by a curtain.
The writer is also under the impression that you “upstage” another actor by walking in front of him, between him and the audience. Richard's rival accuses him of doing this during a performance. Note: upstage is the part of the stage that is away from the audience; downstage is toward the audience. (Stages used to slant toward the audience.) You upstage another actor by doing something behind him.
The writer is also under the impression that one of the dangers that an actor faces is being “lost in the play.” Our hero gets so caught up in his part, which he identifies with so much, that he cannot distinguish reality, and has to be brought back to the present by another actor farting on the stage. During the performance. During, moreover, the climax of the play. The writer is under the impression that no one would notice this: during the most dramatic moment, when the silence in the audience would be palpable. And getting lost in the part is, well, ridiculous.
So, not much theater background there.
The writer has chosen The Winter's Tale as Shakespeare's most important play of that year so that our hero can play Perdita, the “lost” one, who doesn't know who her father is. This is the part he gets so lost in.
The writer is also not aware that Shakespeare's company rented Blackfriars, and used it to perform plays in the winter months, to the gentry. This made all the scenes about playing to diminishing audiences in the cold and the damp during the autumn and early winter annoying.
The best character in the book is Star, the maidservant. She is alert, watchful, thoughtful, willing, helpful, and likes people. Our hero is surly, ungrateful, selfish, and thoughtless. Star is always around to help our hero out, though it isn't at all clear why. I hope he does not end up with her; she can do so much better for herself! Star is positive. Richard is self-involved to the point where he takes a group of rioters to destroy his aunt's house in order to get back something she took from him. At that point, there is no liking him.
And yet I kept reading, because I was interested in the solution to the mystery of his father. And I should not have bothered. If that had turned out to be satisfying, I would have given this book 2 stars. But in the end, his father contacts him to help him escape, because he was indeed involved in the unspecified plot against the queen, and wants his son to bring him a woman's dress to escape in. Our hero doesn't understand the message (though it couldn't be more plain) but they change clothes anyway (huh?). It makes no sense why the guy needs his son's help to catch a boat that's waiting for him anyway, or why he chooses this time to meet the kid he has avoided for 300 pages.
Endings should be glorious, satisfying, enjoyable, satisfying, fun, and most of all – satisfying. If you cut this scene, it wouldn't change the story. He meets his father at last and – nothing. The suggestion that his father might come back some day when the heat is off is like being told by a horrible guest who has taken up too much time, made too much of a mess, and bored you for a week, that he looks forward to seeing you again soon. No!!! Please!!!
And now the big ending! Yes, the solution to the mystery, finally meeting his father face to face, is, structurally the ending of the story, the resolution of the problem that compels the story into motion. But no, this book has another climax, another ending, dictated by the need to conclude the theme.
Confronted by the queen's spy hunters, our hero needs an alibi. His rival boy-player, out of the blue, supplies one by telling them that the kid was in the theater that day, acting in the Winter's Tale, playing the part of the bear. The Bear Theme Again! Does anyone really think that you couldn't tell whether there was a man in that bear costume or a boy? Or that a player would only play one part in a play like Winter's Tale, with all the courtiers, and dancing peasants, and courtiers? Come on! But given this alibi, the spycatchers go away.
And now the climax of the great Bear Theme, when our hero, for four paragraphs, mulls over the bear costume, and the author attempts to give him something that he learns from it. It doesn't work.
Theme is an invention of academics studying literature. Academics believe that because a theme can be so powerfully moving, that the theme is why the writer wrote the story. They believe the theme comes first. And so they have been instructing would-be writers. But this is not true. If you choose your theme, and write your story around your theme, then what you will have, instead of a good story, is characters making inexplicable actions in order to demonstrate aspects of the theme. This makes them wooden and false. And since the actions will make no sense, the theme won't work anyway.
Star is not burdened with a theme; that's why her actions are interesting and her behavior enjoyable. Richard is so burdened by theme that nothing he thinks or does makes sense, and he is wooden and boring.
And the fact is, themes are a by-product of a good story. If you write a good story, it will have a theme. If you write a good story that is complex, it will have several. If you write a good, complex story, at the last draft, you can look at all the different resonances that your story has brought up, metaphores about life, and what is important, and at that point, at the penultimate draft, with a few deft strokes you can emphasize and shift and tighten certain instances that will strengthen the theme. But up until that point, you should never, ever think about the theme when you write a story.
Be true to your story. Write a strong beginning, where the character has a big problem, and works to solve it, like arriving in London without money or work, in search of his father. This character would not begin by giving away his food, or his money.
Sustain the middle by following the consequences to the initiating actions, and then, make sure you have a satisfying ending! Or what's it all for?
Thus, this is a very disappointing book.
*** here there be spoilers *** many spoilers follow *** Spoiler Alert! *** abounding spoilers to follow ***
I love historical stories about kids getting involved at the fringes of actual events and historical figures. I especially enjoy the Elizabethan period, and I love theater, so I ordered this book from the library, and looked forward to reading it.
Richard's mother has died, and he has been kicked out of his home, so he heads off to London, partly because the father who abandoned him was last heard from there.
The beginning of this book was disappointing; it read like a research-dump; information about Protestants executed by burning at Smithfield forty years in the past, and then a hodgepodge of vendors and what seems like a pointless interaction with a performing bear, to whom our starving and poverty-stricken hero surrenders half his food. (Enter the Theme of the Bear). He then gives up an additional two days' food money as a result of emotional blackmail to buy a string of beads to “remember” his mother by, despite the fact that he has carried away quite a few keepsakes belonging to her.
So, thus far our hero is dumb, and easily manipulated. He does have a plan, however, which is to go to the address where his father's last message came from. Great! A plan makes a character, and thus the story, have purpose. He goes to the address, a lawyer's office, and meets an overly-mysterious clerk, who gives him a name to say to get himself a job working on the docks for an import company. He gets the job, but gets beaten up a lot by the other boys. He stops one such beating by loudly reciting a psalm. He is overheard by a maidservant, who suggests that he meet her master. She also informs him that he is being watched, but she doesn't tell him what her master does, or what job is on offer. Our hero goes to her master's house, demonstrates his voice, and is invited to try out for the company.
But our hero is a Puritan. He believes that plays are of the devil. He leaves the house in a dudgeon and tells the maidservant to mind her own business!
The fact is, the only reason this character was made to be a Puritan is so that there would be CONFLICT when he is offered a position in a theater company. But neither his thoughts, nor his behavior, are consistent with puritanism. If he were so devout, why didn't he seek help from the pastor at the nearest church as soon as he got to town?
Then, a few days later, upon making delivery of barrels of wine, under cover of a street riot he is robbed of his mother's keepsakes. He decides that he is being watched, and must hide in the one place where no one will think to find him – as an actor on the stage. Uh huh. Thus, he goes to the audition. He has abandoned his barrow containing several expensive barrels of wine, and he has run off with all the money he has collected for the ones he has delivered, but he never gives that a thought – even though it is a hanging offense. We never hear what he did with the money. The writer seems to have forgotten these bits of baggage as soon as they weren't needed anymore to advance the plot.
Where would you hold the tryouts for your theater company? Hint: not at the Theater that you own, on an off day. No, you would hold them at the Mermaid Tavern, in public, in all that noise. Because that gets the Mermaid Tavern on the stage. And of course our hero succeeds in being accepted into the company, even though several company members are doubtful. Fortunately, William Shakespeare and Master Condell like him, and he moves into Condell's house as an apprentice.
There follows a tortuous plot about finding the people who know his father, who happen to be involved in an endless but unspecific popish plot against the queen, and people watching him who think he's involved because he contacted several of them, and trying to retrieve his stuff, and one person who's disguised as another person who's disguised as another person. The overall plot line of our hero wanting to find his father was sufficient to keep me reading – I wanted to know how the mystery turned out – but I stopped trying to keep track of who was who, because there was always another turn which didn't lead anywhere. I would have needed to start a list to keep everything straight, and it wasn't worth it.
Meahwhile, our hero is learning his craft as an actor. And here the book really fell down. The writer is under the impression that backstage of a play is chaos. That actors drop their clothes when they take them off, and don't know where costume pieces or props are located. The fact is, props are always in their assigned place, and costumes – which were expensive – would have been treated with care except in extraordinary circumstances. The writer is also under the impression that the tiring master would shout at a player backstage. During a play. The text says “shout.” The tiring room is separated from the stage by a curtain.
The writer is also under the impression that you “upstage” another actor by walking in front of him, between him and the audience. Richard's rival accuses him of doing this during a performance. Note: upstage is the part of the stage that is away from the audience; downstage is toward the audience. (Stages used to slant toward the audience.) You upstage another actor by doing something behind him.
The writer is also under the impression that one of the dangers that an actor faces is being “lost in the play.” Our hero gets so caught up in his part, which he identifies with so much, that he cannot distinguish reality, and has to be brought back to the present by another actor farting on the stage. During the performance. During, moreover, the climax of the play. The writer is under the impression that no one would notice this: during the most dramatic moment, when the silence in the audience would be palpable. And getting lost in the part is, well, ridiculous.
So, not much theater background there.
The writer has chosen The Winter's Tale as Shakespeare's most important play of that year so that our hero can play Perdita, the “lost” one, who doesn't know who her father is. This is the part he gets so lost in.
The writer is also not aware that Shakespeare's company rented Blackfriars, and used it to perform plays in the winter months, to the gentry. This made all the scenes about playing to diminishing audiences in the cold and the damp during the autumn and early winter annoying.
The best character in the book is Star, the maidservant. She is alert, watchful, thoughtful, willing, helpful, and likes people. Our hero is surly, ungrateful, selfish, and thoughtless. Star is always around to help our hero out, though it isn't at all clear why. I hope he does not end up with her; she can do so much better for herself! Star is positive. Richard is self-involved to the point where he takes a group of rioters to destroy his aunt's house in order to get back something she took from him. At that point, there is no liking him.
And yet I kept reading, because I was interested in the solution to the mystery of his father. And I should not have bothered. If that had turned out to be satisfying, I would have given this book 2 stars. But in the end, his father contacts him to help him escape, because he was indeed involved in the unspecified plot against the queen, and wants his son to bring him a woman's dress to escape in. Our hero doesn't understand the message (though it couldn't be more plain) but they change clothes anyway (huh?). It makes no sense why the guy needs his son's help to catch a boat that's waiting for him anyway, or why he chooses this time to meet the kid he has avoided for 300 pages.
Endings should be glorious, satisfying, enjoyable, satisfying, fun, and most of all – satisfying. If you cut this scene, it wouldn't change the story. He meets his father at last and – nothing. The suggestion that his father might come back some day when the heat is off is like being told by a horrible guest who has taken up too much time, made too much of a mess, and bored you for a week, that he looks forward to seeing you again soon. No!!! Please!!!
And now the big ending! Yes, the solution to the mystery, finally meeting his father face to face, is, structurally the ending of the story, the resolution of the problem that compels the story into motion. But no, this book has another climax, another ending, dictated by the need to conclude the theme.
Confronted by the queen's spy hunters, our hero needs an alibi. His rival boy-player, out of the blue, supplies one by telling them that the kid was in the theater that day, acting in the Winter's Tale, playing the part of the bear. The Bear Theme Again! Does anyone really think that you couldn't tell whether there was a man in that bear costume or a boy? Or that a player would only play one part in a play like Winter's Tale, with all the courtiers, and dancing peasants, and courtiers? Come on! But given this alibi, the spycatchers go away.
And now the climax of the great Bear Theme, when our hero, for four paragraphs, mulls over the bear costume, and the author attempts to give him something that he learns from it. It doesn't work.
Theme is an invention of academics studying literature. Academics believe that because a theme can be so powerfully moving, that the theme is why the writer wrote the story. They believe the theme comes first. And so they have been instructing would-be writers. But this is not true. If you choose your theme, and write your story around your theme, then what you will have, instead of a good story, is characters making inexplicable actions in order to demonstrate aspects of the theme. This makes them wooden and false. And since the actions will make no sense, the theme won't work anyway.
Star is not burdened with a theme; that's why her actions are interesting and her behavior enjoyable. Richard is so burdened by theme that nothing he thinks or does makes sense, and he is wooden and boring.
And the fact is, themes are a by-product of a good story. If you write a good story, it will have a theme. If you write a good story that is complex, it will have several. If you write a good, complex story, at the last draft, you can look at all the different resonances that your story has brought up, metaphores about life, and what is important, and at that point, at the penultimate draft, with a few deft strokes you can emphasize and shift and tighten certain instances that will strengthen the theme. But up until that point, you should never, ever think about the theme when you write a story.
Be true to your story. Write a strong beginning, where the character has a big problem, and works to solve it, like arriving in London without money or work, in search of his father. This character would not begin by giving away his food, or his money.
Sustain the middle by following the consequences to the initiating actions, and then, make sure you have a satisfying ending! Or what's it all for?
Thus, this is a very disappointing book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2016
Honestly, I could barely keep my eyes open while reading this. I couldn't engage into the story at all, and I found it hard to continue. I didn't completely finish it, but I was close enough to know it was certainly not the book for me.
March 8, 2016
I read The True Prince waaaay back in '09 before I realized that I'd missed its predecessor. Which was mostly okay, because I can remember loving TTP anyway, but I've been trying to read this book for nearly seven years just so I have a little bit of closure.
It was good. Decent. Maybe I enjoyed it more than I should have because I was invested in liking it - no one wants a seven-year commitment to be for nothing. Or maybe I just really dig Shakespeare stories and like homage to my main Elizabethan man, even if it's a little forced and clunky (which, in this case, it was, often). Maybe I just really like YA/MG Shakespeare stories that have the main guy cast dressing up as women and not being weird about it (I do - The Shakespeare Stealer has my heart). Maybe I'm partial to MCs named Richard.
I dunno. The mystery element was severely disappointing, as was the father storyline, though the conclusion was pretty well-done - for "my father is an a-hole" revelations go, which are awful and need to be discontinued in the twenty-first century except for when they're written by true masters. I liked Richard well enough - he was talented but not preternaturally skilled, had good points and bad points that were equally established, and most of what he did made sense. Most. Not all the time, but a majority of the time. Basically, the characters were a solid 3 1/2, while the plot was more of a 2.
I really want to read The True Prince again now, though, because Kit is exactly the douchey, brilliant emo kid I love to love. Kit was definitely the show-stealer.
It was good. Decent. Maybe I enjoyed it more than I should have because I was invested in liking it - no one wants a seven-year commitment to be for nothing. Or maybe I just really dig Shakespeare stories and like homage to my main Elizabethan man, even if it's a little forced and clunky (which, in this case, it was, often). Maybe I just really like YA/MG Shakespeare stories that have the main guy cast dressing up as women and not being weird about it (I do - The Shakespeare Stealer has my heart). Maybe I'm partial to MCs named Richard.
I dunno. The mystery element was severely disappointing, as was the father storyline, though the conclusion was pretty well-done - for "my father is an a-hole" revelations go, which are awful and need to be discontinued in the twenty-first century except for when they're written by true masters. I liked Richard well enough - he was talented but not preternaturally skilled, had good points and bad points that were equally established, and most of what he did made sense. Most. Not all the time, but a majority of the time. Basically, the characters were a solid 3 1/2, while the plot was more of a 2.
I really want to read The True Prince again now, though, because Kit is exactly the douchey, brilliant emo kid I love to love. Kit was definitely the show-stealer.
March 11, 2020
This was a childhood favourite that I hadn't read in years. When I was about 10-14 I had a phase of loving historical fiction that was set in Shakespeare's time, and this was one of the books I enjoyed most during that season. While I didn't love it as much as I did at age 13, the writing and plot was still engaging and it was fun to revisit it.
November 19, 2021
I wish I'd known about this book when I was teaching 9th and 10th grade English! A great introduction to Shakespeare's England/stage, and a good story to boot. This is historical fiction done like I like it: major historical figures (such as Shakespeare) are merely side characters. The story revolves around some completely fictitious young people and the setting is merely Elizabethan England and the stage. Thus, we get a good picture of what life may have been like.
There are lots of details of daily life (dress, food, customs), and the plot is full of suspense. Thematic elements are good: loyalty, art v. life (lots of discussion possibilities on that one!), family ties, religious conflict (Protestants v. Catholics), etc. I especially appreciated the art v. life theme--this very concept crops up in Shakespeare's plays repeatedly, and Cheaney does a good job of bringing that theme out in this book.
The primary Shakespeare play in the book is The Winter's Tale--one of the few I haven't read.
There are lots of details of daily life (dress, food, customs), and the plot is full of suspense. Thematic elements are good: loyalty, art v. life (lots of discussion possibilities on that one!), family ties, religious conflict (Protestants v. Catholics), etc. I especially appreciated the art v. life theme--this very concept crops up in Shakespeare's plays repeatedly, and Cheaney does a good job of bringing that theme out in this book.
The primary Shakespeare play in the book is The Winter's Tale--one of the few I haven't read.
May 26, 2015
Richard Malory makes his way to London after he is turned out by his employer. He gets temporary work on the docks but one day he is approached by a young girl, who persuades him to come and meet her master, and try out for the stage. Soon he finds himself among the Lord Chamberlain's Men, performing at the Rose. Shakespeare is not a central character in this book, but the busy, violent world of Elizabethan England is so well-researched and presented that it is a good choice for those seeking context for Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Cheaney seems determined to pack her novel with every bit of detail that she can, resulting in 300-plus pages that feel like a slog in places. Overall, a little boring. The mystery thread that the author weaves in is less than compelling as well. Ages 12 and up.
August 2, 2018
In the year 1597, a young boy sets out from his home to try and find his long-lost father in London. While doing so, he ends up as a member of Shakespeare's theater company. Will he ever find his father, or will he forever remain a poor orphan boy?
Although the premise interested me, I lost focus in the story quickly and found it to be dull and fact-loaded. I didn't really care for the main character, Richard, or the whole mystery thing. I think the plot of the story would be just fine if it was focused only on his acting career and more of what life was like during that time.
This book is supposed to be for younger readers, but I had a hard time following all of the details. It's too bad, because it had some good ideas.
Although the premise interested me, I lost focus in the story quickly and found it to be dull and fact-loaded. I didn't really care for the main character, Richard, or the whole mystery thing. I think the plot of the story would be just fine if it was focused only on his acting career and more of what life was like during that time.
This book is supposed to be for younger readers, but I had a hard time following all of the details. It's too bad, because it had some good ideas.
May 30, 2016
This book wasn't bad but I just didn't find it interesting. Though if you like the 1500's and a mystery type book I think you would enjoy this one!
June 13, 2022
My 14-year-old son and I chose to read this one together and with only a few chapters left, even he has lost interest. He selected this one because it sounded like a thriller that is set in Elizabethan England. We've read the Dangerous Times, Traitor's Gold, and Seas of Blood from the Nathan Fox series by Lynn Brittney (which he adored) and the book Peter Raven Under Fire by Michael Molloy twice! From the description on the book jacket of The Playmaker, it sounded like a similar type of adventure story. To be candid, it was boring. The main character Richard is thrust into London city life and becomes an actor to conceal his identity for fear of being followed and stalked. The action is few and far between and the character's development is slow. Honestly, I wanted to stop reading mid-novel, but my son kept us moving forward. As I mentioned, we only have two or three chapters to go and now even he is no longer interested in getting to the end. I also learned that there is a sequel to this one which we were both surprised by. It is so unfortunate that this didn't deliver!
July 20, 2017
After the death of his mother, Richard no longer has a place to work so he goes to London in search of a job. At first, he finds work on the docks. But a strange man threatens him and sends Richard running for his life. Starling, a girl who saw Richard emoting scripture to avoid getting beaten up, sets him up with an audition for the Chamberlain's Men at The Curtain. Richard gets the job and soon is living with Robin (a fellow actor). But Richard is soon drawn into more intrigue when people start connecting him with the mysterious Martin Feather who seems to be more than one person.
March 4, 2020
Historical fiction, which I love. But a story that was hard to engage early in the book. I enjoyed some of the characters so continued to read and at some point had trouble stepping away from the book. I can’t say I recommend it, but for those who enjoy historical fiction, especially set in A Shakespearean timeframe, you might enjoy this.
April 9, 2024
I hate this book with a burning passion. We are reading it In school and it makes me want to die. I’ve only opened the book once to actually read it and it made me annoyed.it is not sigma 🐺🐺🐺 1 STAR ☺️
1-interesting-assortment
May 1, 20240.00 on amazon
May 22, 2014
I enjoyed this book. The historical setting is realistic and well-crafted and the plot is interesting. There's a plucky female character, but because the author stays true to the attitudes of the era, the girl gets shut out a lot, both from the emotional and the physical actions of the story. Still, the characters are complex, despite a bit of black-hatting with the Catholics. There are several subplots running through the story, and they get kind of messy at times as they cross and double back. I think this was intentional, as the author plays a lot with the ideas of acting and theater. Still, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written more as a traditional mystery with a steady course, instead of characters sort of stumbling on and off stage when it suited the story. Likewise, the main character sometimes seemed too quick or too slow to pick up on things. Still, I liked it and got sucked into the story. This book was marketed as middle grade (10 and up), but I think it's probably more for teens, as it has a fair amount of off-color humor and some gore, and is fairly long and complex for a kid's book.
August 13, 2016
This book came to my attention when we did the Shakespeare display, last fall, and I have finally managed to find the time to read it. I’m enormously pleased to have done so—the last few teen books I’ve read were somewhat disappointing, so it was a pleasure to be reminded of what a good one can be. This is a coming-of-age story, a novel, and a love poem to the Elizabethan theatre, home of Richard Burbage and Ben Johnson and Will Shakespeare. Richard Malory, an orphan at 14, comes to the London of 1597 to find work, and finds instead mysteries—why are complete strangers trying to help or harm him, and what does it have to do with the father who abandoned the family when he was young. The setting is well-evoked and, so far as I can tell, comprehensively and accurately researched. As someone with ties to the London theatre scene and a particular passion for Shakespeare, I adored the depiction of what life must have been like in the frenetic repertory companies of the Elizabethan stage. Highly recommended to teens—or adults—with an interest in history or theatre.
April 26, 2010
The intended reader for this novel is supposed to be a young adult, age 12+. However, as an adult reader, I would be surprised if the young-set could effectively follow all the book’s narrative, since I at times struggled to follow the changing interlaced mystery. I was intrigued by the London lifestyles in 1597, particularly the Protestant administration versus Catholic uprisings. I enjoyed the Shakespearean details of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men [i.e., William himself, his brother Edmund, Richard Cowley, Richard Burbage, John Heminges, Henry Condell:] and well as Ben Jonson, playwright friend of Shakespeare. One definitely needs to be a Shakespeare authority to truly appreciate the novel.
July 7, 2012
Oh man! How did I forget about this book. I read this when I was in middle school--maybe sixth or seventh grade. I remember that I really enjoyed and got sucked into the story. As I recall, this book is funny and has action, historical figures (notably Shakespeare), and cross-dressing. One scene especially had me laughing out loud. Now that I think of it, I read this book around the time when I first realized the type of stories I soon grew to love. This book is great; in fact, I distinctly remember wondering why my classmates had never mentioned it because I thought they should all have heard about it or have read it.
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August 28, 2021I remember reading this book in the fifth or sixth grade, and it was incredible. One of my favorites. So much so that I went on a quest to find it again as an adult, now a full-fledged Elizabethan and Jacobean enthusiast.
It ... does not age as well as I'd hoped.
But major props for making my life as a kid - and that's the age group it's actually geared toward, so all the better for that. Would recommend for middle school nerds like I was.
It ... does not age as well as I'd hoped.
But major props for making my life as a kid - and that's the age group it's actually geared toward, so all the better for that. Would recommend for middle school nerds like I was.
January 22, 2011
Richard has just arrived in London to seek his fortune when mysterious things begin to happen. He finds things begin to happen. He finds work as an apprentice actor in Will Shakespeare's company. He struggles to learn his new trade and becomes entangled in a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth, and his missing father may be the mastermind behind it!
January 9, 2009
Interesting historical fiction about Shakespearean England.
December 13, 2009
It was Just alright.
Sort of a mystery book, where you're guessing identities, etc. there's a twist to the plot
Sort of a mystery book, where you're guessing identities, etc. there's a twist to the plot
July 4, 2011
A brilliant debut. Set in Shakespeare's London a mystery among the players is a great foil and setting for an intriguing mystery. Super into to Shakespeare and his times.
June 20, 2012
This book give the reader a good sense of life in Elizabethan England, especially the life of the actors in the Lord Chamberlain's company, while providing a mystery to unravel as you go.
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April 7, 2015I really enjoyed this look at backstage life during Shakespeare's times
May 19, 2016
I thought it was a well written book but I found that there was too many characters to keep track of. Overall it was a well written book
January 28, 2016
the conspiracy plot was a little hard to follow but i liked the acting the character did
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