All The World's a Stage: A Novel in Five Acts - Hardcover

Woelfle, Gretchen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082342281X ISBN 13: 9780823422814

Publisher: Holiday House, 2011

Synopsis

Suddenly a hand gripped the back of his neck. "Cutpurse!" Kit is caught! Twelve-year-old orphan Kit Buckles, seeking his fortune in Elizabethan London, has bungled his first job as a pickpocket at the Theatre Playhouse where the Lord Chamberlain?s Men are performing. To avoid jail, Kit agrees to work for the playhouse and soon grows fond of the life there: the dramas on- and offstage. Things get truly exciting when Kit joins the plot to steal the playhouse from the landlord who has evicted the company.

About this title

About the Author:

Gretchen Woelfle's book for young readers Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer received the 2008 Once Upon a World Children's Book Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. This is her first novel. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Review:

A novel of Elizabethan theater centers around an unsuccessful thief. Kit is caught up in the excitement of a performance by the Lord Chamberlain s men at the Theatre. Unfortunately, he is a penniless, runaway 12-year-old orphan forced to work as a cutpurse, stealing money from audience members. Distracted by the drama, he fails in his first attempt and agrees to work for the players to avoid prison. Reluctantly, he is caught up in their hectic world of rehearsal and performance. Woelfle opens a revealing window into 1590s London and its dynamic theater scene. There are intriguing snapshots of one William Shakespeare, who finds his inspiration from street songs and conversations he overhears. Men and boys play the roles of women, sew costumes, rehearse speeches and sword fights and build sets. The scene stealer here is the intrigue behind the stealthy deconstruction of the Theatre and its rebuilding as the Globe due to a legal squabble with the landlord. Against this backdrop, Kit grapples with his own career choices, growing into the satisfying realization that carpentry is his calling. Young Molly, who sells apples in the theater, is a welcome friend and foil. Readers of Gary Blackwood s The Shakespeare Stealer (1998) will find this equally exciting. The conceit of organizing the story through acts and scenes in lieu of chapters sets the stage nicely for a dramatic tale. (author s note, glossary, bibliography; illustrations not seen) (Historical fiction. 8-12) --Kirkus Reviews

In Elizabethan England, 12-year-old Kit is one of hundreds of boys from the countryside who arrive in
London to seek a trade. Unfortunately, Kit s first apprenticeship is with a gang of thieves, who order him
to steal purses from the crowd at the Theatre playhouse, where Shakespeare is the writer in residence.
After Kit is caught, the Theatre s managers give him the option of working off his crime, and what begins
as a punishment turns into a thrilling opportunity as Kit becomes an indispensable stagehand and falls in
love with theatrical life. Woelfle adds additional tension with a story, based on true events, of the players
eviction from one site, and the secret, rushed dismantling of the timbers that eventually formed the Globe
Theatre at a different location. But the most compelling drama is Kit s universal search for his calling and
his shifting friendships, particularly with a girl so clever that even Shakespeare quotes her. An author s
note, a glossary, and a bibliography add more curricular tie-ins, while frequent charming drawings enhance
the sense of time and place. --Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 082342281X
• ISBN 13: 9780823422814
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Cox Thomas