Brighton stages the story behind Romeo & Juliet

Romantic comedy comes to Brighton to celebrate 400 years of the Bard with a production of Shakespeare in Love, a play with music that was adapted for the stage by Tony Award and Olivier Award winning writer Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Academy Award winning writer Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.

Shakespeare in Love plays two Brighton venues (contributed pic)

A romantic piece of historical fiction, the story centres on a young Will Shakespeare as he struggles to find his muse.

Promising young playwright Will Shakespeare is plagued by debt and tormented by writer’s block – until he finds his muse in the form of passionate noblewoman, Viola de Lesseps. Their forbidden love draws many others into the drama including Queen Elizabeth I and inspires Will to write the greatest love story of all time: Romeo and Juliet.

The original 2014 production received a raft of five-star reviews. This latest is headed by award-winning director Claire Lewis who has recently directed the acclaimed production of Calendar Girls: The Musical at Brighton’s Theatre Royal.

Claire said: “This is a delightful piece to work on with a host of fabulous characters, romance and gags. Much of the dialogue is taken from Shakespeare’s canon and many of the plot devices employ tactics from his works, cross-dressing, mistaken identities, sword fighting, a comedic nurse, singing, dancing. Even visions of ghosts are present, as is the play within a play convention Shakespeare fondly adopted. This is a play with something for everyone, Shakespeare buffs or novices alike.”

The 22 strong cast is headed by Lewis Todhunter as Will who’s fresh from playing Bertie in the five-star production of The King’s Speech in the Brighton Fringe and Melissa Paris (The Revlon Girl, Farragut North and Mike Bartlett’s Cock).

Shakespeare in Love opens at Brighton Little Theatre on Tuesday, August 8 playing until Saturday, August 12. Then it plays at Brighton Open Air Theatre from Thursday, August 17 until Saturday, August 19, performances at 7pm and a Saturday matinee, 2pm (doors 6pm/1pm for picnics).