To: Ben Jonson bjonson@newgate.gov

From: Wm. Shakespeare shakes@globe.org

Subject: Triaged!

Date: February 4, 1599 8:03:03 AM GMT

Dear Ben,

I just got the reviews back on my grant proposal for Hamlet, the new play I was telling you about. I applied to the National Institutes of Health in America this time—the RFA said they're interested in creative new ideas and all that rot but they're just as conservative as here in England. It wasn't even discussed! I'll wager it was those scoundrels Beaumont and Fletcher that sank it. I could self-publish again, but, ’zounds, I could use some cash for a couple of new swords for the final scene. Of course, if I were a swashbuckler like Raleigh, I'd just get funded by the Queen. Can't anyone see that it's not globetrotting, but the Globe, that teaches people how to *think*? Anyway, I'd appreciate your input on what to do next. (Do you think Cervantes would be up for an HFSP?) I'm attaching the Significance and Innovation sections of the proposal, so you can get a feel for the idea, followed by the critique.

Very truly yours,

Will

P.S. I'm not as glum as I sound. I'll get this thing written or my name isn't William Shakespeare.

P.P.S. Glad you'll be out soon.