- The next day, Henslowe is complaining that his new play is too much whining about Rosaline, and not enough comedy.
- Men are practicing their lines, and a young boy says he is to play Esther, the pirate's daughter.
- But the play has changed, and Will kicks him out of the theatre.
- Suddenly, a very dramatic actor named Ned Alleyn shows up and shouts at everyone. "You will see how genius creates a legend."
- Will convinces the pompous actor to play Mercutio by saying that's the title of the play: Mercutio.
- Will leaves, and bumps into the kid who was to play Ethel, the pirate's daughter.
- He's a little creepy, feeding mice to a cat, and he says he loves plays with lots of blood. Sounds like a future serial killer… but actually he's future John Webster, a playwright who would go on to write the Elizabethan stage version of slasher movies.
- Will returns to the theatre, and Thomas Kent enters (i.e. Gwyneth in a mustache)
- Will gives her some instruction, and then rushes off to write Act Two. But first, a sonnet: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day…"