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In collaboration with distinguished New Zealand writer and composer, Neill Pickard QSM, Enchanting Productions is thrilled to announce the first ever multi-generational production of Sweet William or Born to be Bard. 

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"Mr Pickard's lively and witty show depicts Shakespeare's boyhood in Stratford-on-Avon, his youthful marriage and domestic situation, early struggles as a writer in plague-ridden London, entanglements with the "Dark Lady" and the enigmatic Earl of Southampton, and the flowering of his literary genius."  It also features Shakepeare's son, Hamnet.

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The show incorporates a variety of musical styles from madrigals to jazz, ballads to blues and swing to rock, and will be accompanied by a live band (including Neill's son, bass player, Richie Pickard) at The Piano from 16-18 October 2026.

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Rehearsals will be on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons in St Albans, beginning in May.  Actors will be required when scheduled only.

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Auditions, open to those aged 9+, will take place on 31st January 2026.  There is no cost involved in being in this show. See roles and application form below.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

SWEET WILLIAM CHARACTER LIST:

Miss Rutledge (Teacher)

Thomas (Schoolboy)

Melissa (Schoolgirl) (solo- Born to be Bard)

William Shakespeare (numerous solos- I Have Come to This, Anne, Give Me a Chance, The Play's the Thing, Mourning; duet-Emilia)

Queen Elizabeth I (solos- Gloriana, Year of '88)

Courtier

Dick Tarleton (Court Jester, later Crier) (solo- Clown)

Young William Shakespeare (11)

Young Joan Shakespeare (WS's sister, stage age 6)

Young Anne Shakespeare (WS's sister, stage age 4)

Young Gilbert Shakespeare (WS's brother, 9)

John Shakespeare (WS’s father) (solo- An Armigerous Gentleman)

Mary Shakespeare (WS’s mother) (solo- Homecoming)

Anne Whateley (WS's fiancée) (solo- Spring)

Male quartet (May Song)

Yokel 1

Yokel 2

Anne Hathaway (WS's wife) (solo- Will You William)

Fulk Sandels (Kinsman of Anne Hathaway)

John Richardson (Kinsman of Anne Hathaway)

Will Kemp (Actor)

Thomas Pope (Actor)

Lord Hunsdon (solo- Optimism Samba)

Emilia Bassano (The "Dark Lady" of the Sonnets) (duet- Emilia, solo- Emilia's Farewell)

John Heminges (Actor)

George Bryan (Actor)

Richard Burbage (Actor)

Gus Philips (Actor)

William Sly (Actor)

Henry Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton) (solos- Sweet William, She)

Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex)

John Florio (Scholar)
Undertaker 1 (duo- Bubonic Plague Blues)

Undertaker 2 (duo- Bubonic Plague Blues)

Richard Field (WS’s printer & publisher)

Countess of Southampton (Earl of Southampton's mother)

Barmaid

Susanna Shakespeare (WS's daughter, 11-13)

Hamnet Shakespeare (WS's son, 9-11) (solo- Greensleeves)

Judith Shakespeare (WS's daughter, 9-11)

William Shakespeare's siblings:

Gilbert Shakespeare (27)

Joan Shakespeare (24)

Richard Shakepeare (19)

Edmund Shakespeare (13)

Lady Macbeth

Desdemona

Cordelia

Pages

Ensemble

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Auditions

Please prepare a song that shows your voice to best advantage and bring the sheet music for Kim Wood, our audition accompanist.  If auditioning for one of the boys roles, please prepare Greensleeves.  You will be sent some dialogue to prepare for your acting audition.  Please also prepare a one-page CV with photo to bring to the audition (optional).​​

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Creative Team

Director - Louise Glossop

Choreographer - Amy Potts

Music Director - TBC

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From those who know the show...

Those who have been in one of the numerous college productions of Sweet William in the past (including CBHS/Avonside Girls' in 1978, StAC/CGHS in 1986 and Cashmere High in 1995) will be able to tell you what a fabulous and fun show it is.  When mentioned to one such actress recently she wrote back: "...how exciting that you are producing 'Sweet William' next year! I absolutely loved that show - definitely one of my all-time favourites. All those songs are forever etched in my mind and heart."  Kate Trevor-Barnston (née Garside)

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"Never a dull moment"

Professor of English literature, Richard Corballis, who reviewed one production, wrote: "Pickard's music is jaunty and his dialogue a clever pastishe of the genuine Shakespearean article." 

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Book your audition time today!

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