| Thomas Trotter was an ordinary boy who
lived in London with his family. He was not a rich boy
and neither were his parents, though they managed. Thomas
was eleven years old and his clothes were generally
untidy and a bit like rags. He had a day job in a theatre
cleaning. Everyday he got paid a farthing; however, the
money varied and often got lower if his boss saw his work
slipping. The theatre was called The Globe which was
situated very close to the river Thames. Thomas had always wanted to become a famous actor. He had dreams about it and sometimes but not often, he heard the actors in the theatre practising their parts. Sometimes Thomas even made up his own little one-person plays. Although his biggest aim was to become an actor, he also really wanted to meet Shakespeare, but even more than that, he wanted to act in one of his plays. |
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Although
Thomas's family did not want to act, they still wanted to
meet Shakespeare. This worked well to Thomas's advantage.
His family decided that one day they would set out to
find Shakespeare as they knew he had gone back to
Stratford. Thomas knew Shakespeare because when he was young he was taken to see one of his plays. Shortly after that he got his cleaning job in the theatre. With the money from Thomas's cleaning job, and his mother and father's working money they soon decided they had saved enough to travel to Stratford on a horse and cart. It was on the morning of the twentieth of December when they left. Thomas took an old, tatty bag with him and some supplies such as food and water as they knew it would be a long journey. They found some transport in the village where they paid for a horse and cart. They were always bumpy, horse and carts, and never provided a pleasant ride. If you were fortunate enough to be able to afford something that would make it a more enjoyable journey then you were lucky. |
They got themselves onto the cart and away they went. Already they were getting bruised and thrown up and down. They had only been going for ten minutes. They knew the journey was going to take them at least ten days as it was about one hundred and twenty miles from London to Stratford. After a long and painful ride they had completed roughly eighty miles. They soon made a very wise decision to stop at a nearby fair. This fair was in Oxford and it was extremely crowded. They weren't asked to pay to enter, so they went straight in. First there was a huge tent with a variety of different acts in it. As soon as they had made their way past the tent, a juggler was only inches away from bolting Thomas in the face with a ball. After that they wandered around a couple of times, going from activity to activity. Thomas soon settled at a drinking race and then moved on to join his parents at the juggling. The fair was held in part of a street and on a big open area of land. The activities and shows were set up in rows one after the other. After the fair, the Trotter family heard all about Shakespeare and his house. "Apparently it's really good, Mum, Dad," said Thomas. More importantly, they were informed about how to find it and what to look for when they arrived in Stratford. After about two whole hours they decided to continue with their journey. They had another forty miles to travel until they reached the place they'd always wanted to get to. Although they were going at a steady pace, their journey took more time than planned as they had to pause at certain intervals to rest the horses, and they couldn't travel while it was dark. At this time of year the darkest hours were between six o'clock am and six o'clock pm. It was near impossible to be on the road between those hours as they had no means of light. It was a Saturday afternoon when they arrived in Stratford. Unusually it was an exceptionally sunny day, and there were a lot of stalls. People were selling fruits such as apples, plums and wild strawberries along with vegetables including turnips, carrots and onions. The streets of Stratford were cobbled and not unlike London, although there were a few noticeable differences. One of the things Thomas particularly noticed, almost the moment he set eyes on the place, was the incredible small number of people. In comparison to London there were no people to be seen, none at all. As they had heard all about Shakespeare's house and how to reach it, they thought it would be best to not take a break but to carry on with their journey. While they were walking they came across several street crying people. One of them shouted, "Apples for sale, only one farthing!" The Trotter family questioned people along the streets as to whether they had seen Shakespeare, and if they had, where? It was puzzling at first as the Trotters couldn't find the road to Shakespeare's house, but after a while it clicked. It was really Thomas who had the idea how to end their search. It was another full half hour until they finally reached their destination. They had come all this way to find Shakespeare, and it had taken them such a long time, that it seemed strange that the moment they really has been waiting for would be gone in a few seconds. They stumbled towards the path to Shakespeare's house and up it. With shaking knuckles Mr Trotter knocked on the door. As it creaked open, and a face, which clearly didn't belong to Shakespeare appeared, their hearts were close to sinking. "Would it be possible to see William Shakespeare, please?" asked Mr Trotter. "I'm awfully sorry to tell you this sir, but Mr Shakespeare left for London just yesterday. Would you care to leave a message for when he returns?" replied the servant. "No thank you, but we appreciate your help," explained Mr Trotter. When they thought things couldn't get worse, it all sunk in. Their journey had been completely waisted. There was only one thing to do. Get back to London as soon as possible. The journey took another ten days and was not any more pleasant than the trip to Stratford. When they arrived back in London, they asked around again, just as they did in Stratford. Thomas decided he had to still earn money at work. While he was working he practised one of his pretend plays. He was close to crying because all of his dreams had been torn apart, but he managed survive. Luckily, one of the stage workers heard Thomas doing this and immediately informed Shakespeare. After Shakespeare heard this for himself and did some more research, Shakespeare offered Thomas a small part in his next play. It was only a few lines, but a massive smile appeared on his face from ear to ear. He forgot all about his current job and slammed the broom on the stage floor and ran as fast as he could to tell his parents. This was even better than just meeting Shakespeare, all of his dreams had come alive in only a few minutes. By Emily B |
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