Ann-Marie MacDonald – författare

Fayne, a vast moated castle, lies to the misty southern border of Scotland, ruled by the Lord Henry Bell, Seventeenth Baron of the DC de Fayne, Peer of Her Majesty's Realm of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The mysterious Lord Bell keeps to his rooms by day, appearing briefly at night to dote over his beloved and peculiarly gifted child. But even with all her gifts - intelligence, wit and strength of character - can Charlotte overcome the violently strict boundaries of contemporary society and establish her own place in the world?

Following the curves of the twentieth century, FALL ON YOUR KNEES takes us from haunted Cape Breton island in Nova Scotia through the battlefields of World War I into the emerging jazz scene in New York City, and immerses us in the lives of four unforgettable sisters. The children of a driven and ambitious father, the sisters -Kathleen, the oldest, a beautiful talent intent on a career as an opera diva; Frances, the drunken rogue and child prostitute; Lily, the pseudo-saint cripple; and Mercedes, the fervent Catholic and protector of the flock - are swept along by the tumult of events and of their own desires. This is a story of family relationships, racial strife, miracles, attempted murder, birth and eath, and an extraordinary love affair.

Incisive and comical, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Hamlet-911 interrogates white male privilege in the theatre while also grappling with urgent themes of adolescent suicide and personal crisis.The plot follows actor Guinness Menzies, a television star, who lands his dream role as Hamlet at the Stratford Festival – largely to impress his father, Rex, a renowned Shakespearean actor at the festival. Rex plays the Ghost, while Guinness’s wife, Sue, is cast as Gertrude, a role for which his real mother is deemed too old. Before a high school matinee a student named Jeremy messages Guinness for help with a class project, but Guinness ignores him. Unbeknownst to the actor, an online predator is grooming Jeremy, pushing him toward suicide. After a fight with Sue, Guinness crashes his bike and wakes up in a surreal Underworld, part nightmare, part comedy, where time is out of joint, his understudy may replace him, and he’s forced to relive his own family drama onstage. Guided by an usher-jester named Yorick, Guinness must complete a mysterious quest before he can return – and before it’s too late for Jeremy.This new edition of the playscript provides essential context for reading and staging the work. It features a substantial critical introduction by Neta Gordon, exploring the history and national significance of the Stratford Festival and how MacDonald’s drama draws on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It also includes an engaging interview with MacDonald and director Alisa Palmer, tracing the play’s multi-year development and eventual production at Stratford.

In this story, Constance Ledbelly, an associate professor, dreams she has entered two of Shakespeare's plays and altered them by saving the lives of Juliet and Desdemona.