Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 26

26 WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 1096 EVENING STANDARD Bed and Bard Was elder daughter involved in a scandalous love affair resulting in an unpleasant disease? A new RSC production traces spirited adventures HEATHER NEILL reports which is usefhl because I can fill in the We do know a few things about Susanna She was bom on 26 May 1583 six months after her marriage when Shakespeare was still only 18 She was accused of being in 1606 after she had failed to attend church to take Easter communion (Only a year after the Gunpowder Plot there was little sympathy for Catholic tendencies) Nevertheless she married Hall known for his Puritan sympathies the following year She became a rich woman on her death in 1616 Whelan had embarked on the play before he discovered the more lurid details of accusation The Herbal Bed is he says about love and more particularly a very topical idea that breaking the rules of sexual conduct may be judged separately from other kinds of immorality Bearing recent political examples in mind Whelan talks of through a window PEACOCK dung is good for vertigo InfUse it in white wine overnight strain it and take it for two weeks measured by the phases of the moon To cure a fever apply radishes bruised in salt and vinegar to the soles of the feet and a hen newly cut through to the head To treat diseases of the ear or lungs use earthworms for epilepsy powdered human skull All the above recommendations appear in the casebook of Dr John Hall a respected physician resident in Stratford-upon-Avon in the early 17th century He also happened to be son-in-law having married the elder daughter Susanna in 1607 If some of his prescriptions seem calculated to cause more anxiety than the original disease others seem quite sensible Scurvy was rife especially among the upper classes who flaunted their wealth by living on meat Dr Hall prescribed watercress This was a favourite ingredient of his but so were all kinds of plants and herbs which no doubt he grew in his garden Peter new play The Herbal Bed is sei in that garden at a time of crisis in the lives of the Halls For die social position (and perhaps the livelihood) of this couple pillars of the community was threatened by an extraordinary accusation It is well documented that in 1613 a young gentleman from nearby Alveston Manor one John Lane claimed that Susanna the runinge of the raynes and had bin naught with Rafe The scandalous nature of this was later obscured however by the mistranslation of of the to mean the or being too dominant in her household In fact means not reins but kidneys and the condition referred to is gonorrhoea daughter accused of having contracted a venereal disease as the result of an affair (being with Rafe Smith a local hatter took Lane to the consistory (church) court in Worcester to clear her name He failed to turn up and was excommunicated So the matter apparently ended But could there have been any substance in accusation? Whelan says he feels a little guilty even suggesting the possibility that daughter suffered from so unpleasant a disease he says people want to There is scarcely any evidence one way or the other But why should Lane have invented such a vicious tale? No one knows although he does seem to have been of questionable character On the other hand Susanna had only one child which was unusual but scarcely conclusive evidence Whelan says he is dealing in shreds and patches of history Pfcssfoa play: Joseph Fiennes and Teresa Banham in The Heibal Bed of a little lightly marinated peacock poo Perforated lead plates were strapped to the back in the area of the kidneys probably to cool the inflamed organs medicines Included winter cherry with opium and a powder made from ingredients such as sarsaparilla and guaiacum a resin extracted from a West Indian wood Finally Hall inserted a lead pipe into the yard (penis) which was kept there long as he The Herbal Bed opens at The Other Place in Stratford tonight Box office: 01789 295623 for his retirement to Stratford Did Hall treat him? There is no evidence that he did The cause of the death remains obscure Some including Anthony Burgess have suggested venereal disease It is possible in such a case that Hall would have been too discreet to include details of it in his notes He is known to have protected the identities of well-todo local men who suffered from gonorrhoea If all this is speculation the treatment in such cases is well-documented and was even more wince-making than the ingestion in the past at our own time Somebody can be an upright citizen in every other respect but cheat in matters of The specific historical connections are intriguing however Shakespeare wrote nothing after The Tempest in 1611 Whelan conjectures that illness was the reason mm This is what Fiat are offering when you buy a new Fiat Punto You can now own the 1995 Gar of the Year by spreading the cost over 24 months completely interest free Considered to be one of the safest in its class the Punto comes with side impact bars fire prevention system and seat belt pre-tensioners as standard Each one also has an engine immobiliser and four speaker radiocassette yet prices start at only £7441 on the road or see Yellow Pages for your nearest participating Dealer afta 6 Aims ROAD FUND UCENCE AND BOORReCr Q-UME OF CSOMG TO PRESS 13l96 0 nNANa OFFER OOSCS CREDirnOULABtE TO ANYONE AGED 18 AM OVEA SUBJECT A GUMAMEE MW IE REQUSEUWRnTENOJOliAinONSAtfMABlE ON REQUESl HAT MOTOR FNANCE 3 PRNCESSWI3rREDHU SURREY RH1 1 NR HAT MOTOR FUMNCI IS MIT OF IM LOMBARD (MtOUIV DR I Ml ifl pf Ars SI ON fl Mm mmmi HEW mil.