Review Detail

Sam is lucky--he lives on London Bridge right near William Shakespeare's wonderful new playhouse where they put on the best plays in all of England. But he and his mother don't have any money so he has to look for a job. When Sam sneaks into the theatre and impresses Master Shakespeare with his antics, he gets hired, but he has a lot to learn about being an actor before he can play the role of a lifetime.

Pauline Francis keeps the story real (and makes Shakespeare more human) by not letting acting come too easily to Sam, and Jane Tattersfield's lovely, colourful illustrations make Elizabethan England all the more appealing.