Shakespeare's Fool

Will 'Cavaliero' Kempe was one of the finest performers of the Elizabethan age. Gentleman player, juggling jester, headmaster of Morris dancers and London's finest clown, until...he fell out with Will 'git-face' Shakespeare. Kempe died alone and poverty stricken, not very far from the original Globe Theatre, of which he was an original shareholder and faded into obscurity; a world away from his former life having supposedly originated some of literature's best- known characters, including Bottom, Dogberry, and Falstaff.

Join ‘Cavaliero’ Kempe on the streets of London as he gives his final performance to an audience of a mouse and a marrote and tells the tale of his life, his rise to stardom and what really happened between him and William Shakespeare.

This one-actor show, starring Robin Leetham premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021 and returned in 2022. Shakespeare's Fool has sold out theatres across the UK, has appeared in Romania as part of the International Shakespeare Festival, Craiova and has received rave reviews from critics and audience alike.

A bittersweet tale, told by an idiot.

Part of York International Shakespeare Festival