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There are no examples of Shakespeare's "foul papers"—no working draft in his hand. (Some scholars consider a short section of the manuscript of Sir Thomas More to be an possible example of his handwriting.) With the work of the Q Brothers, we have an opportunity to look at multiple versions and see them working out the play.
When J and G presented a script to CST in November of 2007, they had already been working on it for almost two years. In the spring of 2006, G had painstakingly rewritten Shakespeare’s play line-by-line, updating the jokes and some of the language, but keeping most of the story and the characters intact. By the time of the November 2007 draft, the Q Brothers had eliminated characters, streamlined the story, and reworked the language to sound contemporary. The April 2008 draft is the one the cast was working with when rehearsals began on June 6. While the play has found its final form, the script is sure to continue to change during the rehearsal process.
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