Books by Mark Rylance

"On a frozen Minnesota lake, the ice is beginning to creak and groan. It's the end of the fishing season, and two old friends are out on the ice, angling for something big; something down there that is pure need. Something that might just swallow them whole. In 'Nice fish,' celebrated actor Mark Rylance draws on his own teenage years in the American Midwest in a unique collaboration with critically-acclaimed Minnesotan contemporary prose poet Louise Jenkins"--Page [4] of cove

A sublimely playful, profound and very funny play by celebrated actor Mark Rylance and critically acclaimed Minnesotan contemporary prose poet Louis Jenkins.

A fascinating, witty and characteristically exuberant dramatic exploration of the Shakespeare authorship debate. Is it possible that the son of an illiterate tradesman, from a small market town in Warwickshire, could have written the greatest dramatic works the world has ever seen? It's a question that has puzzled scholars, theatre practitioners and theatregoers for many years. The philosopher, Francis Bacon; the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere; and Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke: all of them have been put forward as the real author of the plays. But why would they hide behind an anonymous actor? Who was the real Bard of Stratford? Why should we care? Mark Rylance is one of a number of leading actors who seriously question the idea that William Shakespeare was the man behind the thirty-seven plays that have moved, inspired and amazed generations. First performed at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2007, Rylance's provocative play introduces us to four candidates and their respective claims - whilst asking fundamental questions about what makes a genius, and why it all matters anyway. 'Witty, gloriously funny and wonderfully well-written... the best thing I have seen for years' The Stage