HERBAL BED, THE

by Whelan, Peter

The latest play from the author of The School of Night and The Bright and Bold Design is based on actual events which occurred in Stratford upon Avon in the summer of 1613, when William Shakespeare’s eldest daughter Susanna was publicly accused of having a sexual liaison with Rafe Smith, a married neighbour and family friend. Despite a recanting by her accuser, the young gentleman Jack Lane, the following month Susanna sues for slander in the court of Worcester Cathedral. Her husband, the respected Stratford physician John Hall, is desperate for her to clear her name in order to save his practice and gives her his complete support — but how can he avoid the fact that one summer’s night while he was away from Stratford, Rafe Smith was seen secretly leaving their herbal garden? Faced with political divisions within the church, the hearing in the bishop’s court becomes a risky gamble as three people’s private lives are subjected to the glare of intense public scrutiny in this emotional thriller whose result is anything but certain.