Host of the Garter

The Star and Garter Inn

The Host of the Garter Inn is an interesting character.  The owner and operator of the Garter, Windsor's pub, the Host is affable, warm, and a bit of a prankster.  I'm most excited because this is a role that could be played by a woman, increasing the adult principal women's roles to four.

One of the most interesting things about the Host is the very distinct speech pattern.  There's a lot of repetition of phrases or entire sentences within a speech.  There's also a lot of talking in short phrases, and even more of hyperbolic talking.  I wonder if Shakespeare patterned the speech pattern after the actual Host of the Garter when he was writing the play; I've not encountered such a distinct speaking pattern in Shakespeare before.

William Page

Shakespeare as a child?

William is the youngest of the Page children.  William has one scene, where he is asked questions by Sir Hugh Evans and Mistress Quickly plays around with he double meanings and double entendres of some of William's answers. Adding to the mischief is Evan's thick Welsh accent where he pronounces the v-sound as an f-sound.  Since the questions he asks William are about Latin, then there is much humor and naughtiness when he asks William about the Vocative case.

Say "vocative case" out loud but change the opening consonant to an f-sound like Evans does.  Naturally, Quickly's reaction is anything but clean.  It's the lowest of low comedy but it is funny. 

I am toying with cutting this scene, not because the f-word is slyly bandied about but because it halts the forward movement of the show in three ways.  One, it has nothing to do with any other plot and comes fairly late in the show.  Two, the language and the jokes used could be lost on modern audiences.  And three, it may not have been written by Shakespeare anyway.

If I do cut it, I should find something important for William to do.   Perhaps a feature in the fairy dance/song at the end of the show. He will be featured as one of the Page children in the beginning, but there may need to be a few more Page children, thereby lessening his impact.

Costume Notes

--Simple prairie dress or sailor dress is preferred
--Fairy costume