A Waste of Shame

A Waste of Shame (aka A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets) is a 90-minute television drama on the circumstances surrounding William Shakespeare's composition of his sonnets. It takes its title from the first line of Sonnet 129. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 22 November 2005 as part of the supporting programming for the BBC's ShakespeaRe-Told season, but was only loosely connected to the rest of the series. Its screenplay was written by William Boyd, and the film was directed by John McKay. Lines from the sonnets are presented as thoughts running through Shakespeare's mind. Plot 1609: Shakespeare is struggling to complete his sonnets while the plague rages. He sees the body of a young child and remembers the moment in 1596 when he learned of the illness of his son Hamnet while rehearsing a play in London. Returning to Stratford-upon-Avon, he was subjected to abuse from his shrewish wife Anne for neglecting his family by living in the capital. His son died, and an embarrassing argument between his father John and Anne disrupted the funeral. John later told him that the family was in financial difficulties. William agreed to pay off the debt, but to do so he had to return to London. 1597: Shakespeare receives a bag of money from Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, for writing the procreation sonnets, to encourage her son, the young William Herbert to marry. He meets the young aristocrat and becomes strangely attracted to him. Herbert says that he will meet Shakespeare again when he comes to London.