Shakespeare in Love

The Optimist has been living the high life in London again. This time I paid a visit to the Noel Coward Theatre, to see the newly opened Shakespeare in Love.

I'll start with a shameful admission ... I've never seen the film that this play is based on. That's terrible isn't it? It's an Oscar winner for crying out loud! Unfortunately, I won't be able to tell you how the play compares, but what I can tell you is that the five-star reviews it's been getting are well and truly deserved.

In the same way that Wicked reimagines The Wizard of Oz, this is a reimagining of Shakespeare's life and as the show opens, young Will's got a serious case of writer's block. The theatre owner who pays his wages is desperate for a play that will get bums-on-seats (or feet on straw covered mud as would be more likely in 1593) and Shakey has promised him 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's daughter'. Still struggling to put pen to paper, Will goes ahead and starts auditioning actors in the hope that something will spark his creativity and, rather unexpectedly, one young man does just that. Maybe it's his stage presence, his emotional range and his crisp diction, then again maybe it's the fact that he's not actually a man at all. His, or rather her name is Viola De Lesseps, an aspiring actress and Shakespeare fangirl determined to have her moment in the spotlight though society won't allow women on the stage.

The rest of the story echoes the plot of Shakespeare's most famous play; star crossed lovers forced apart, murder, vengeance, a climatic ending - even a balcony scene - all of it providing Will with the inspiration for his masterpiece. The final act takes place backstage during the first performance of Romeo and Juliet but the audience, which includes Elizabeth I, are oblivious to the drama unfolding behind the scenes.

One of the biggest triumphs of this show is its set design. They've built an Elizabethan theatre with moving walls that enable us to see the performance taking place on stage, and the drama going on in the wings simultaneously. A few chandeliers and some props and the set also transforms into a bedchamber and a ballroom among other things. That ever-so-famous balcony scene I mentioned earlier has been beautifully thought out, with Shakespeare clambering up to the gallery to see his muse.



Honourable mention goes to the Elizabethan minstrels that pop up throughout the show, adding even more class to an already classy affair. Some of those Renaissance tyowns are bangerz. Then there's Spot, the scene stealing, canine star of the show. I can see an Olivier on his horizon.

Speaking of Olivier's, the rest of the cast are dead cert's to get a nod or two as well. The leads, Tom Bateman and Lucy Briggs Owen overflow with energy and their comic timing is impeccable. Together their chemistry is electric but independently they manage to convey real heartbreak and thanks to their performances, the ending is genuinely moving. David Oakes as Christopher Marlowe is Mr Charisma and Cranford's Captain 'ye'll tak the high road and ah'll tak the low road' Brown, Alistair Petrie is a seedy Lord Wessex.

As the play drew to a close in the same way it had opened, with Shakespeare writing a sonnet by candlelight - I found myself wishing I could watch it all over again.