The Ballad of Crookback and Shakespeare

Elizabethan England - a state under surveillance - an aging Queen with no heir at its centre, the last of the Tudors, determined to justify her family's to rule commands an unknown playwright, William Shakespeare, to illustrate this by creating the ultimate stage villain "The Crookback" King Richard III, but first Shakespeare must prove himself to the Master of the Revels Sir Edmund Tilney, who despite being the most powerful man in the theatre never sets foot in it and instantly hates the "Upstart Crow" chosen by the Queen. Act 2 is a new century - a new King. "The Wisest Fool in Christendom", the unpredictable hard drinking James - Tilney is sidelined, the only person who can help him is the top playwright of the King's Men - William Shakespeare ... but will he? Richard III made Shakespeare's reputation - but there is a dark secret about the "Bottled Spider", "The Crookback King" that no one suspects ...