Shakespeare in Love
by Tom Stoppard, Lee Hall, Marc Norman
Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 18m, 6f
Shakespeare in Love
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Cast Size
18m, 6fDuration
More than 120 minutes (2 hours)Subgenre
Adaptations (Stage & Screen)Accolades
From West EndTarget Audience
- Adult
- Senior
- Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Additional Info
Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block... the deadline for his new play is fast approaching but he's in desperate need of inspiration. That is, until he finds his muse – Viola. This beautiful young woman is Will’s greatest admirer and will stop at nothing (including breaking the law) to appear in his next play.
Against a bustling background of mistaken identity, ruthless scheming and backstage theatrics, Will’s love for Viola quickly blossoms and inspires him to write his greatest masterpiece.
Reviews
REVIEWS
5 STARS! "Funny, often genuinley moving, and generates a glow you could warm your hands by...The best British comedy since One Man, Two Guvnors and deserves equal success." - Daily Telegraph, Read More
5 STARS! "An absolute joy from beginning to end!" - Daily Express, Read More
"There's the elating sense that the material--with its rivalry between the public playhouses echoing between the Monatgues and the Capulets--is reveling in it's natural elements in the theatre...It makes you feel grateful to be alive." - The Independent, Read More
"Marvelously fluid, riotously funny, and often intensely, even startlingly poignant...This may be, in part at least, a comedy about Shakespeare falling in love; but joking aside, it could just make you fall, all over again, in love with Shakespeare." - Chicago Tribune, Read More
Videos
-
Shakespeare in Love Trailer
Considerations
Performing Groups
- College Theatre / Student
- Community Theatre
- Dinner Theatre
- Professional Theatre
- Large Stage
Cautions
- No Special Cautions
License details
- Minimum Fee: $125 per performance
This title is currently restricted. Please submit a license request to determine availability.
Production
Details
- Time Period: 16th Century / Elizabethan
- Duration: More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Setting:
Multiple locations in and around Elizabethan London
- Additional Features: Animal spot, Physical Comedy, Play w/ Music, Stage Combat
- Features / Contains: Period Costumes
Casting
18m, 6fTILNEY
WILL SHAKESPEARE
RALPH
KATE
VIOLA DE LESSEPS
QUEEN ELIZABETH
HENSLOWE
ROBIN / FREES
MOLLY / MISTRESS QUICKLY
BURBAGE
SIR ROBERT DE LESSEPS
SAM
NURSE
PETER / BARMAN
MARLOWE
WABASH
ADAM / BOATMAN
WESSEX
NED ALLEYN
LAMBERT / GUARD
FENNYMAN
WEBSTER
NOL
ENSEMBLE MEMBERS / MUSICIANS / ATTENDANTS
Cast Attributes
- Ensemble cast
- Reduced casting (Doubling Possible)
- Room for Extras
- Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle)
Resources
Rehearsal Resources
Music Material Rental Packages
Full Package
Shakespeare in Love - Rehearsal Piano
Performance tracks with all recorded music.
Production Handbook (Digital)
Vocal parts for the actors are available at the end of the acting edition.
More
Authors
Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard’s most recent play, The Hard Problem, opened at the National Theatre in 2015. He wrote his first play, Enter a Free Man, whilst working as a journalist in Bristol. His plays include Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, After Magritte, Jumpers, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves ...
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Lee Hall
Lee Hall was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1966 and studied English Literature at Cambridge University. He has worked as a writer in theatre, TV, radio and film. He has been writer in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Live Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Theatre: Wittgenstein on Tyne, Live Theatre 1996; Bol ...
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Marc Norman
Shakespeare in Love premiered on the West End at the Noel Coward Theatre in London in July 2014 under the direction of Declan Donnellan.
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