George Wilkins

George Wilkins was a playwright active in the early 17th century.

Though Wilkins had collaborated with William Shakespeare on at least one play, Shakespeare did not look upon him favourably. While struggling with ideas for The Tempest, Shakespeare acknowledged that he could be "getting too old for this game" and running out of ideas. He briefly considered enlisting a co-writer, with John Fletcher as one possibility, but Shakespeare explicitly excluded Wilkins from the running by underlining in his notes the phrase "Not George Wilkins". (PROSE: The Tempest – A Work in Progress)

Behind the scenes

The name of the play which Wilkins wrote with Shakespeare is not stated in The Tempest – A Work in Progress, but in the real world Pericles is generally believed to be a co-effort between the two.