Tickets £18 | Concessions £14 (Full-time Education, NHS and Universal Credit)
Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard and adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, with music by Paddy Cunneen.
Tuesday 20th – Saturday 24th January 7:30pm
Matinee Saturday 24th January 2:00pm
“Let me explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. But it always works out in the end… It’s a mystery.”
- Henslowe, Act 1 Sc 5
It’s 1593, it’s Elizabethan London and aspiring playwright William Shakespeare has writer’s block. His latest play, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter, does not seem to be going anywhere and contemporary friend and dramatist Kit Marlowe is writing the plays that the audience want to see. Hounded by theatre impresario, Philip Henslowe, who needs a new play to clear his debts, not to mention Queen Elizabeth I who wants a comedy with a dog in it – Will is despairing. Then he meets his muse.
Viola de Lesseps, the beautiful young daughter of Sir Robert, has taken to visiting the London theatres, besotted as she is with the thought of an actor’s life. Disguised as a man, Viola auditions for Shakespeare, and he is captivated! Will seeks her out and although he discovers her secret, and that she is betrothed to the dastardly Wessex, he and Viola fall hopelessly in love. Will now has his inspiration for Romeo and Juliet, and the words pour forth.
A talented Next Stage cast, under the directorship of Ann Ellison BEM delivers a perfect post-Christmas pick-me-up, with scintillating dialogue, dances and sword fights aplenty, this is definitely a show not to be missed.
Opening Night Review:
On a cold, wet, windy evening in January, I was glad to receive my usual generous welcome to the warm and cosy Mission Theatre.
Shakespeare in Love, the stage play adapted from the screenplay of the film of the same name tries to answer the question that every student of English literature has at some point asked herself; just who was this William Shakespeare and what or who inspired him?
The timing of this play couldn't be more poignant, coming as it does so soon after the death of incomparable Tom Stoppard who co-wrote the screenplay for the film of the same name, and also coinciding with the release of a film speculating about the life, loves and works of the bard himself. I will make no attempt here to unpick the decades of academic endeavour to uncover the author of some of the best plays and sonnets ever written. But this play tries to get under the skin of the man we believe was responsible for putting quill to parchment.
It was wonderful to see so many involved in the production. It takes a village to put on a play of this scale (as a fellow Drama Llama I know), and the sheer amount of talent on show does credit to the group. There were lots of faces both new and familiar on the stage and all handled the play within a play format with aplomb. It was nice to see lots of family groups in the cast (clearly the apples don't fall far from their trees) and there was obvious enjoyment from all. I don't want to single out anyone as this was truly an ensemble piece; suffice it to say that every single cast member had a line, a moment, or a scene that will stay with me. They relished each and every character and showed great respect for the period and the source material. I especially enjoyed the parts where there were several things happening simultaneously, as well as the use of freeze-frame. The creative use of space and the movement of furniture around it suggested a well-drilled cast and lots of rehearsal. We were moved seamlessly from taverns to backstage, to theatres to palatial homes and even to a boat navigating the Thames.
Costumes from this era are no mean feat, so credit must go to Vanessa Bishop and team for the work on this. I also thoroughly enjoyed the original music by Maestro Martin Allsop which added authenticity in the form of madrigal-style songs and guitar. The projections with the curtain swish set each scene and the subtle lighting gave the impression of candlelight. Theatre in the round is a staple of Next Stage and particularly suited the text given that many plays of the era would have been performed in a similar way to entertain us groundlings. All that was missing was exeunt pursued by dog.
It's interesting that Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous of Shakespeare's plays, despite it being far from his best. Anthony and Cleopatra does a doomed love affair and The Tempest and The Winter's Tale do family conflict far better in my opinion. Perhaps it's the wish-fulfilment of being so strongly the object of another person's affections that they would literally give their life for you. But I couldn't picture this script using any other Shakespeare play but this one. Nobody tried to “do the film” which made me look at it with fresh eyes and enjoy it all the more. This script has a knowing quality with its references to contemporary drama, Kit Marlowe, other Shakespeare plays and even Gammer Gurton's Needle, and radiates a tremendous sense of fun. Like other drama loosely based on real events such as I Claudius and The Cat's Meow, it made me want to believe that it could be true, despite knowing that it wasn't.
I came along having little affection for the film. However, Ann's production managed to charm this curmudgeon and coax her into a world of lovers, actors, nobility, royalty, aspirants, entrepreneurs, tavern-dwellers, vagabonds, ne'er-do-wells and the detritus of Elizabethan street life. So, many congratulations to all you peddlers of bombast. It just goes to show what a bit of “Will” power and “Bard” company can do.
Rebecca Beard
