Second Best Bed

Left the 'second-best bed' in his will (rude, William), Anne Hathaway is officially done being a historical footnote. Newly widowed and very much still grieving, Anne is forced to confront her legacy when Shakespeare’s most iconic creations from whimsical fairies to chaotic witches start dropping in uninvited to guide her through the five stages of grief.

As fiction collides with history (and possibly brief time travel), Anne begins to suspect her husband may have poured more emotional energy into iambic pentameter than into their marriage. Rude again.

Will Anne overcome her belittling label in Will’s will, or will she forever be known as his ‘second best lady’?

Second Best Bed is a new original Australian musical written by Mae McCubbin, and debuted at the Stratford Shakespeare on the River Festival (2026).