Pacific Repertory Theatre is presenting the regional premiere of Shakespeare in Love. Maybe you’ve heard of it.
This is the stage adaptation (in 2013 by Lee Hall, who wrote Billy Elliot and Rocketman) of a film (a 1998 box office hit that also won the Best Picture Oscar) co-written by a playwright (Tom Stoppard, writer of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Arcadia) about another playwright (Shakespeare).
Its characters are mostly based on actual historical figures – like playwright Christopher Marlowe – and its period details are faithful, but its plot is pure imagination. It’s about Shakespeare as he’s suffering from writer’s block while trying to write a play tentatively titledRomeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter.
Kenneth Kelleher, who recently directed PacRep’s Waiting for Godot and Pericles, directsShakespeare in Love.
“Shakespeare is about age 30, toiling in London to get enough commissions to write plays,” Kelleher says. “He hasn’t hit his mature phase.”
Then he meets a woman named Viola, who has auditioned for his play disguised as a man (women were not allowed on stage at the time). The writers have turned Shakespeare’s own devices on him, like cross-gender disguises, sexual innuendo (and for this reason, they recommend ages 12 and over) and forbidden lovers. But soon enough, Shakespeare and Viola discover each other.
“He falls in love with her and derives inspiration from the love affair to create Romeo and Juliet,” Kelleher says.
It’s got music, but Kelleher says it’s more a “play with music” than a musical.
“The composer of the adapted play scored songs based on sonnets and verse from Shakespeare,” he says.
The artistic leadership at PacRep had been asking Kelleher to do this piece for years. But Kelleher was daunted by the size of the play. He’s seen productions with 30 actors. But they decided it was time.
There are more than 20 in this cast, including equity actors Andrew Patrick Jones and Jen LeBlanc, and ensemble actors Mike Bake, Oliver Banham and James Brady. They will be adorned in period costume. The language is in prose, but it’s not Shakespearean per se.
“It’s discernible to a modern audience,” Kelleher says. “It’s understandable, but it is about the creation of Shakespearean language.”
The set will look like an Elizabethan playhouse, with balconies above and theater below. The story begins as lighthearted comedy, but delves deep into romance and the creative process.
“It’s a way to look at Shakespeare through a more modern light,” Kelleher says. “[It] humanizes him. You might want to see one of his plays.”
Or a play about him.
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