The title comes from Hamlet, spoken by the aforementioned, Act 3, Scene 2: "Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers-- if the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me--with two provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir?
"[1] The original production opened on July 24, 1968 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
The show transferred to Broadway to the Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center and premiered on November 14, 1968.
The plot is a fictionalized or dramatized version of William Shakespeare's young adult life.
[3] Clive Barnes, the theatre critic for the New York Times, gave a mixed review, stating "'A Cry Of Players' and a clique of cliches -- there was much that was wrong with William Gibson's new play given by the Lincoln Center Repertory Company at the Vivian Beaumont Theater last night, but there was also much that was right.