Nat Field

Real Nat Field

Nathan Field was an Englishman who was an actor. He was also an English dramatist. He was born on October 17th 1587 and he died in the year 1620 June/August (the exact date is unknown). His father was called John Field and he was a Puritan preacher. He had two brothers, one named  Theophilus Field who became the Bishop of Llandaff and the other on called Nathaniel who was often confused with himself as they both had similar names. Nathaniel became a printer. 

 

Nathan Field was a student of Richard Mulcaster at St. Paul’s School, London in the late 1590s. He then became a member of the Children of the Queen’s Revels in the 1600s. He played in many plays written by William Shakespeare such as: King’s Men and First Folio. Nathan also wrote two comedic plays called: A Woman Is a Weathercock and Amends for Ladies.  He collaborated with Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher and with Philip Massinger.

 

Fictional Nat Field

 

Nat Field is a fictional character in the book “King of Shadows” ,written by Susan Cooper, who represents the real Nat Field in 1599 who I have written about above. This fictional Nat Field is set in the year 1999 and is the main character of the book. Nat’s mother died of cancer and his father could not handle the grief and sadness so he committed suicide. Nat found his dead body and the picture was embedded in his memory forever. 

 

Nat became an actor and was raised by his Aunt, Jen. Him being an actor took his mind away from the grief of his parents and he was able to escape his horrible memories by excelling in his amazing acting and acrobatic skills. Nat is a student at St. Paul’s School, just like the original Nathan Field, and is directed by Arby and his assistant Rachel. Nat is to preform a play in England at the Globe Theatre for it’s 400th anniversary with some other actors. This play is called A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. The actors go to England from America and begin to practice when Nat suddenly falls ill. He is taken back into the 16th century through a dream and awakens in an unfamiliar setting. At first he begins to panic but he soon becomes comfortable with the new world. Nat Field is now an actor for William Shakespeare and will be preforming A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His character is Puck. William Shakespeare soon becomes a father figure for Nat and treats him as his own son. They both had someone important from there family missing, Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet is dead, and Nat’s parents are also dead. They both filled the empty gap in their hearts. Nat slowly begins to adapt to the culture but still talks in a regular modern voice. He gets an enemy called Roper, a competitive and jealous boy, but they both go their separate ways when Nat saves Roper's life. Nat preforms the play well but then is slowly being taken back to his original time. While the future Nat Field is in the past the past Nat Field is in the future. The old Nat Field in the future has Bubonic Plague and is being treated in the hospital. As the future Nat Field in the past begins to come back to the future the Nat Field in the future comes back into the past, both of them switching bodies again. The Nat Field from the beginning of the story is now heartbroken, as he has to leave William Shakespeare.