Player: Stuart J
Rank: Commoner (Rank 0)
Religion: Church of England
Reputation: Respectable
Email: william_brandage@albion.chaosdeathfish.com

William Brandage is an up and coming playwright rapidly establishing himself on the artistic scene. With the Earl of Cumberland acting as his new patron we can expect his amazingly topical plays to only become more popular. His reputation has only continued to improve and one of his plays has been performed in front of the Royal Court. (Once the props were defused.) He is now amongst the most famous and respected of playwrights in London.

Companies of London Players Playwright (Rank 2)

Entry from the Journal of Miriam Davidcz, Late 1607

”…Rabbi Brandage's husband finding himself somewhat discomposed by the arrival of the Embassy in Prague without the presence of his wife, nevertheless elected to remain in the city in order to safeguard the security of his young twins. I find this a most sensible attitude for the husband of a rabbi, though I must wonder at Rabbi Brandage's somewhat hasty actions…

…Master Brandage using the facilities of the Rabbinical Council and the English Embassy to stay in constant contact with London; we understand him to be overseeing the course of the war and providing information to the Royalist forces… strictly violates our treaty of neutrality, but under the circumstances the Council are choosing to overlook the irregularities…”

Extract from a speech given by Queen Elizabeth II on the conclusion of the war against the Catholic rebels, at her official Coronation, generally attributed to Master Brandage.

”…in the name of Henry, King and Martyr, my dear husband; in the name of Richard the Lionheart, the Spirit of Albion who has fought beside us all in these terrible days; in the name of all of those who have fallen to keep this great Kingdom safe and free from the forces of Papish tyranny and foul treason, let us never forget this holy day. Let us never forget the lives that were lost, nor the price that was paid; for in our hearts and minds lie the true strength of England, the prevailing courage and honour which will see us through fire, through bloodshed, through flood and through Death itself.

Let us raise up our voices in song; not for victory, for the battle we have fought is no usurpation of a foreign power, no righteous conquest, but merely the quelling of a brute and ugly insurrection which tainted and corrupted the souls of good Englishmen and twisted them against their brothers; but for peace. Sure and simple peace.”

Brandage continued as the Queen's premier speechwriter throughout her life, after his return to England, and wrote her most successful speeches. He was awarded a knighthood in 1620, following a series of exceptionally popular plays chronicling the downfall of the English Catholics. Throughout his lifetime, Brandage's plays were notable for the occasional “darker” side they showed in the man; even today, his best tragedies do not make comfortable reading and are certainly not suitable for younger audiences. His comedies were full of risque and black humour, always verging on the bounds of acceptability; edgy, but never quite obscene or criminal. His wife co-authored several works with him, and was generally known as his best editor and proofreader. The constant rumours that Brandage acted as Elizabeth's spymaster persisted until his peaceful death in 1635, at home and surrounded by his loving children.