theatre burnt down, the globe theatre burnt down during the first performance of his final play, henry viiih that he sort of did in that and other plays, a shakespearean approach, if you like, he knew some facts about the life of henry viii but otherwise he speculated wildly about what went on in the story of that king's life. he did — he made stuff up. there are numerous facts, more facts than we sometimes think about the last three years in his life. he did retire to stratford. he went back to a family that he had left. he was still married to anne hathaway, who was eight years older than him. she's played in the film byjudi dench. and he has to come to terms with being an absentee husband and father. so why are you come home? no more stories left to write? susanna, i've lived so long in imaginary worlds, i think i've lost sight of what is real. it is reflective and it is meditative and it is ruminative, and it is about someone coming to the evening of their life, wondering, well, what do i do and how do i process the time when i was away? what do my family think about me? what does this