The Shakespeare Stealer

After his debut, Widge removes his costume and changes into his own clothes. Then he makes his way to the property room where the playbooks are kept. While he sifts through the various trunks and boxes to locate the playbook from Hamlet, someone approaches in the hallway. Widge hides, fearing discovery, but then he realizes a new fear as he hears the property room door being locked from the outside.

Resigning himself to spending the night in the property room, Widge does not attempt to break the locks on any of the trunks. Instead, he settles down to sleep and thinks, “If discovered here in the morning, I could contrive some explanation of how I came to be shut up in the property room. But even with my skill at lying I would have a hard time explaining broken locks and a missing script” (136).

In the morning, Widge is able to sneak back out of the property room once it is unlocked, and he hastily returns to Mr. Pope’s house. His absence has been noted, however, and Mr. Pope demands an explanation. Widge concocts a semi-true tale about his hiding from his old master, which satisfies Mr. Pope. Mr. Pope, who was truly anxious about Widge’s well-being, feeds him breakfast and sends him to his lessons.

During the morning’s lessons, Widge witnesses a conflict between Nick and Mr. Armin. Nick is tired of playing women’s roles, which were given to less important players. When Mr. Armin pushes Nick and asks him whether he has learned all there is to know about playing men’s parts, Nick says he has not. Widge asks Sander why Nick has not been kicked out of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men since he is so much trouble. Sander replies, “Would you throw out your brother,” implying that membership in the theatre troupe is about more than just ability (140). At the end of the lesson, Will Sly—another troupe member—stops Widge and informs him that Mr. Heminges, who runs the theatre, wants to speak with him.

At the start of Chapter 19, Widge is nervously heading to his meeting with Mr. Heminges. Widge assumes that the meeting is about his attempted theft of the script, but Mr. Heminges is concerned about the story he told to Mr. Pope—that Widge’s old master is trying to take him back. Mr. Heminges assures Widge that, should his old master pursue him again, the company can pay off his debt so that he will be free to continue on as an apprentice. Widge is taken aback by Mr. Heminges’ kind offer and isn’t sure how to react.

Later, Sander asks Widge if they are friends, and Widge says, “aye,” which he realizes is actually the truth (144). Sander then asks him why he is so nervous all the time, and Widge lies, telling him that the city still makes him nervous. Sander offers to spend their day off in the country with him, and Widge accepts when Julian also offers to go along. He believes that he will be safe from Falconer if he is in a bigger crowd.

During their daily fencing lesson, Nick is left in charge and challenges Julian to a duel. Nick begins needling Julian by telling him that he is not a good actor. Emotions run high, and the duel escalates. When Nick seems on the verge of injuring Julian, Widge jumps into the fight, thinking, “he had rescued me, and now he needed my help” (146). Widge tackles Julian, and the fight ends when Mr. Armin intervenes. Mr. Armin has come to tell Nick that he has been promoted to a man’s part in Love’s Labour’s Lost, and he tells Widge and Sander to study Nick’s old roles. After Armin leaves, Julian thanks Widge for his help and bravery.

While in the country the next day, the three boys decide to practice their lines. Widge jots his down using charactery, and Julian notices. He tells Widge that his skills could be used to copy the plays of the Lord Admiral’s Men. When Widge asks if Julian means “steal them,” Julian responds, “They do it to us” (150). Widge pleads with his friends to keep his skill a secret, and they agree.

Chapter 20 opens with Shakespeare walking past the three boys, startling Widge who thought he was Falconer. The boys gossip about Shakespeare after he is out of sight, speculating about his romantic entanglements and personal tragedies. During the following week, Widge sees no sign of Falconer, but he remains on edge. After having been awarded men’s parts in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Nick is again demoted to practicing with the apprentices after “coming to rehearsals half-drunk or late, or both” (154).

Mr. Armin informs the apprentices that the queen has requested a special staging of Hamlet, which will be performed at Whitehall in a fortnight. The company goes into a flurry as all the members energetically prepare for the upcoming performance. Although most of the apprentice’s lessons are put on hold while the company prepares for the queen’s performance, Mr. Armin still requires the boys to practice fencing for one hour each day. Julian and Nick are again paired together, but this time Nick, growing frustrated and losing control, injures Julian.

Although he is injured, Julian argues with Mr. Armin when the fencing teacher attempts to remove Julian’s shirt to treat the wound. During Julian’s frantic attempts to keep his chest covered, Mr. Armin and the other apprentices suddenly realize the reason why: Julian is a girl.