Show of the month: Shakespeare in Love at the Noel Coward Theatre
The world doesn’t need another movie-to-stage adaptation I hear you cry.
But hold on. The question with Shakespeare in Love is, how come it has taken so long to get to the stage?
Everyone remembers and loves the blockbuster movie (yes, the one that famously reduced Gwyneth Paltrow to a sobbing mess as she picked up her Oscar and awarded Judi Dench an Academy Award for seconds of screen time!)
Plus the movie had a strong writing pedigree – penned by veteran American screenwriter Marc Norman and world-famous theatre playwright Tom Stoppard (the pair also picked up Oscars for the movie).
And given the movie is set within the theatre world of Elizabethan London…. Shakespeare in Love has been crying out for a stage version!
” A lavish, hugely funny and beautifully acted evening at the theatre”
And this stage play does not disappoint. Skillfully handled by Shakespeare experts (and real life partners), director Declan Donellan and designer Nick Ormerod, this play is a lavish, hugely funny and beautifully acted evening at the theatre.
Featuring a brand new adaptation of the movie written by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall, the cast of over 30 actors and musicians include hot (in every sense) leading actors Tom Bateman (Da Vinci’s Demons) as William Shakespeare and Lucy Briggs-Owen as Viola De Lesseps, plus some classy performers including Anna Carteret (Juliet Bravo) as Queen Elizabeth and recent Tony nominee Paul Chahidi (Twelfth Night) as Henslowe.
An absolute must-see.
