William who?

Stagecraft opens its 2026 season with a production about one of the greatest playwrights of all time – and how we nearly didn’t know him at all.

“Most of us will be familiar with Shakespeare’s plays, but many people don’t know how close these plays were to being lost to time”, The Book of Will director Janet Noble says. “While Shakespeare published his sonnets during his lifetime, he never published his plays. Few playwrights did. It’s a wonder we have them at all.”

Running at Gryphon Theatre from the 4^th to the 14^th of February, Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will is both a love letter to theatre and a celebration of the friends who ensured the Bard’s words would survive. It opens several years after Shakespeare’s death and follows two of his dearest friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell, on their four-year journey to collect and publish his plays – 14 comedies, 10 histories, and 11 tragedies – in their “true and correct” form. Easier said than done!

While historical in context, the script is modern in approach and language, making for a clever and engaging exploration of the creation of the First Folio.

“I love this play,” Noble continues, adding that it’s been in the back of her mind as a show she’d love to direct ever since she saw the world premiere in Denver, Colorado in early 2017. “I’m so excited to have the opportunity to bring The Book of Will to Wellington audiences this summer.”