Hardboiled Eggs. No Wait. Hardboiled Detectives
Eight or nine years ago, I learned about a centuries-old story that grave robbers had burgled the Stratford-upon-Avon tomb of William Shakespeare. Apparently, this common practice drew both trophy hunters looking to profit from rare artifacts, as well as people seeking to analyze the skulls of history's most prolific geniuses. Radar scans of the tomb indicate that Shakespeare’s skull may have in fact been stolen. By whom and for what reason remains unclear. Others cast doubt; they dispel the theft as nothing more than a rumor.
I wrote a play surrounding these alleged events when I was in college, and it was a piece I was not very proud of. Since then, I’ve found my voice and I believe I’ve found a new and better way to creatively tell this tale.
Growing up, on stormy summer nights at my family cabin in Villard, Minnesota, my grandpa George and I would listen to mystery theater on the radio. Hardboiled detectives would solve cases of theft, adultery, corruption, and murder. I’ve adapted and rewritten the Shakespeare show to be a farcical noir radio drama titled The Head Case, and I’m so thrilled to share this work-in-progress with you all as a stylized staged reading.
