If you were to mistake Ethan Hawke's new novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, he probably wouldn't be surprised. With everything that Hawke has written, readers have always seen versions of him in the protagonists. But it's even easier to make that mistake in Darkness, a novel about a young actor playing Hotspur in a starry production of Shakespeare's Henry IV. Hawke did play that role before, with a to-die-for cast that also included Kevin Kline, Richard Easton, and Audra McDonald. Hawke, as fans of his work know, is a theater animal, and the novel really showcases a deep love for the medium. So too does his latest theatrical project, a screen adaptation of Beckett's