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Imogen Says Nothing
7m, 2f
A revisionist comedy in verse and prose featuring Imogen, a character who only appears in the first folio of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, speaks no lines, and is probably a typo. A feminist hijacking of Shakespeare that investigates the voices that have been absented from our canon, and the consequences of cutting them.
A revisionist comedy in verse and prose featuring Imogen, a character who only appears in the first folio of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, speaks no lines, and is probably a typo. A feminist hijacking of Shakespeare that investigates the voices that have been absented from our canon, and the consequences of cutting them.
102 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 29, 2025
A revisionist history of the composition of Shakespeare's First Folio, the writing of Much Ado about Nothing, the relationship between the King's Men and the bears next door, and the bear in The Winter's Tale. It's imaginative and wonderful and moving and I loved it.
We know so much about the men who performed Shakespeare’s plays as actors in the King’s Men. And we have many of their names – Richard Burbage, Ned Alleyn, Robert Armin, William Kempe, John Heminges. Comparatively, we know very little about the bears, bulls, dogs, and primates who performed against their will in the arenas next door to the theatres south of the Thames. We have some of their names, but even those are not their actual names at all but names given to them by their captors.
Aditi Brennan Kapil has attempted to see the world through the eyes of these bears. Imogen Says Nothing considers how the bears next door to the Globe might have impacted the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s England. More than the famous stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear” from The Winter’s Tale, this play also considers a missing character from Much Ado About Nothing—Leonato’s wife—who appears in both published scripts but never says a word. Who might this woman have been? Where might she have gone? And what might she have said if there were someone to listen?
It’s easy to see the bears in Imogen Says Nothing as a metaphor. They are imprisoned, chained, and violated; no one bothers to learn their language; they are feared and treated as if they are inferior beings. Indeed, the men in the play treat Imogen very similarly to the way they treat the bears, even when they understand her to be a woman. Imogen Says Nothing, in this way, is a feminist, anti-racist, and anti-prison reading of Renaissance England and modern society more broadly.
But although we can read the bears as a metaphor for those our society mistreats, it might be useful to remember that they are not merely a metaphor. The bears are also themselves. They were brought to London on ships and in chains. They were made to perform, cut, tethered, and their lives were treated as if they were insignificant. That was a failing on the part of the humans, not a flaw in the bears themselves, and this play is a reminder of the significance and nobility of these powerful beings.
We know so much about the men who performed Shakespeare’s plays as actors in the King’s Men. And we have many of their names – Richard Burbage, Ned Alleyn, Robert Armin, William Kempe, John Heminges. Comparatively, we know very little about the bears, bulls, dogs, and primates who performed against their will in the arenas next door to the theatres south of the Thames. We have some of their names, but even those are not their actual names at all but names given to them by their captors.
Aditi Brennan Kapil has attempted to see the world through the eyes of these bears. Imogen Says Nothing considers how the bears next door to the Globe might have impacted the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s England. More than the famous stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear” from The Winter’s Tale, this play also considers a missing character from Much Ado About Nothing—Leonato’s wife—who appears in both published scripts but never says a word. Who might this woman have been? Where might she have gone? And what might she have said if there were someone to listen?
It’s easy to see the bears in Imogen Says Nothing as a metaphor. They are imprisoned, chained, and violated; no one bothers to learn their language; they are feared and treated as if they are inferior beings. Indeed, the men in the play treat Imogen very similarly to the way they treat the bears, even when they understand her to be a woman. Imogen Says Nothing, in this way, is a feminist, anti-racist, and anti-prison reading of Renaissance England and modern society more broadly.
But although we can read the bears as a metaphor for those our society mistreats, it might be useful to remember that they are not merely a metaphor. The bears are also themselves. They were brought to London on ships and in chains. They were made to perform, cut, tethered, and their lives were treated as if they were insignificant. That was a failing on the part of the humans, not a flaw in the bears themselves, and this play is a reminder of the significance and nobility of these powerful beings.
September 20, 2023
Absolutely fantastic.
March 6, 2023
i liked being henry & warden
May 10, 2023
Very interesting to read, unexpected end and a lot of fun reading it!
June 11, 2023
“It’s a fearsome thing to be absent.” It’s true if one can relate.
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October 18, 2023wooooo assistant directing wooo shakespeare
November 24, 2023
“It is a fearsome thing to be absent.”
December 3, 2023
what. the. FUCK.
i can never enjoy another play again.
i can never enjoy another play again.
February 19, 2024
so very long but women are cool so??
April 29, 2024
i totally understand what this play was trying to do, and i do think the last few scenes really got the point across, but unfortunately, this one was not for me at all
June 27, 2024
I’ll admit it took me awhile to get into it — the play definitely assumes its audience has context for Shakespeare’s friends and collaborators that I alas do not (for the most part). As a theater nerd, it’s a fun interchange of the drama of getting a play performed, and as a contemporary fan of Shakespeare who nevertheless finds much of his work challenging to stage in modern day, I enjoy the dialogue this play has with Shakespeare’s text and in general, society’s choices. The bear scenes are all phenomenal, and there’s just enough humor between the darker cultural critique that makes this a fun read.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
August 20, 2025
sorry, she does WHAT?!?! 😭😭😭
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews