Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block... the deadline for his new play - a comedy called Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter - is fast approaching; he’s struggling to finish the first line of a sonnet and he’s in dire need of inspiration. Read more …
Then he meets the beguiling Viola de Lesseps, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant. Viola is prepared to do anything – including risking the regal disapproval of Queen Elizabeth I - to fulfil her illicit dream of performing on the London stage and pursuing a passionate affair with the greatest playwright of the age.
It is welcome to see this play back on the stage; it’s a fun reminder of how we fell in love with Shakespeare and how much he remains close to the heart of so much of theatre and language.
This is a terrifically uplifting production that transports you to a different time and place and makes you forget the troubles of the modern world for a few hours.
Fast-paced, romantic tribute to the Bard is an effervescent delight.
Top-notch comic performances and a production that purrs like a Rolls-Royce mean that the touring production of Shakespeare In Love...is extremely seductive.
Shakespeare in Love is comfortable theatre, richly enjoyable and pleasing. It doesn’t rock any boats, nor set off fireworks but what it does have is passion.
It flatters those who know Shakespeare’s work well, and dazzles and amuses those who don’t, while also slightly patronising them. Which is perhaps why, for all its excellence, it’s an evening of theatre both easily enjoyable, and instantly forgettable; bland, beautiful, and completely unchallenging.
King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Monday November 12, 2018, until Saturday November 17, 2018. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings
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