It's going to be a big couple of weeks for Shakespeare news. 

First, a new portrait has been discovered that may very well be of William Shakespeare himself.

Dubbed "The Wadlow Portrait," there's currently a great deal of work going into verifying the identity of the man it portrays. There's even a little documentary about it on PBS. 

Second, Chloe Zhao's film Hamnet will be released next week. Starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, the movie is an adaptation of Maggie O'Farril's novel of the same name about the Shakespeare family's home life and the death of their young son.

Last, but not least, I'm releasing a demo for Merely Players, focusing on the core loop mechanics involved in the actual reading of the play, with more setting and character/company creation information to come at a later date.  In a way, this game is an homage to the time I've spent studying Shakespeare or apprenticing in Shakespeare theaters, sitting at a table with snacks and maybe some beers, with a bunch of Complete Works tomes open before us, just having fun reading through the plays in our down time. Merely Players adds gameplay elements to this experience, and fun challenges, but hopefully it fosters a similar feeling. Special thanks to 200-Proof Games for helping me realize that.

If you read it, and especially if you playtest it with your friends/theatre troupe/adventuring party, let me know how it goes.

If you know of anything else cool and Shakespeare related going on in the world right now, let me know that too in the comments!