There’s something rather fitting about the brazen ambition of staging Shakespeare in Love in the modest setting of Stoke Newington’s Tower Theatre.
The script was adapted by Lee Hall in 2014 from the Oscar-winning 1998 film of the same name, written by Tom Stoppard.
Set in 1593 – a period of Shakespeare’s life that is little known to historians – joyful abandon fills the void, and the story includes plenty of Shakespearean dramatic devices such as gender-swapping, slapstick and mistaken identities.
There are moments where the play really shines and gains greater depth. At most other times, it feels like the actors are simply going through the motions merely in anticipation of wheeling out the next punchline or Shakespearean reference, to be performed with an overly knowing tone.
It is a shame that Christopher Edge, who plays Shakespeare himself, often falls foul of this. He is stuck in the unenviable position of playing an ever-earnest character against the backdrop of a colourful array of comical actors. It is therefore not surprising that he mostly strikes the same tone throughout.
The play opens with Shakespeare hopelessly struggling for money and inspiration, procrastinating on his first draft of the play, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter.
His attempts to bring the play to life are nearly scuppered at every turn. Powerful men assert themselves; egos get involved; sword fights ensue; and Shakespeare falls deeply in love with Viola, played by Kizzy Parvin, who is promised to another.
Yet, eventually, Shakespeare manages to cobble together an unassuming bunch of ragtag actors to stage the first ever production of Romeo and Juliet.
Hugh Fennyman, played brilliantly by Thomas Witcomb, cynically finances the production while proclaiming actors to be “10 a penny”. After he is chosen for a part in the play, he adopts the manner of an excited schoolboy and takes pains to perfect his performance and costume.
We also have Wabash, played by the stand-out Andrew Robinson, a stammering tailor who struggles to get out a single line. When Shakespeare asks why Wabash has been accepted for a key part, the theatre’s proprietor explains he owes him some debts, and all is quickly understood.
The unlikely actors of Fennyman and Wabash are part of a larger crowd of men keen to see themselves on stage. While there is great comedic value in the characters’ patchy attempts at acting, Witcomb and Robinson’s performances are skillful enough to elicit genuine moments of sympathy for their hapless characters who are just trying their best.
David Taylor gives Christopher Edge and Kizzy Parvin ample opportunities to garner pathos from the audience. Melancholic music is intermittently played by on-stage musicians and moments of sincerity are carved out, away from Shakespeare’s band of actors.
Kizzy Parvin moves the audience with her recitations, but Christopher Edge is a little too aware of his surroundings, the Blackadder style costumes and the silliness of fully engaging with the heights of those emotions in a cramped studio space.
On the first night of Romeo and Juliet, the actors gather around a nervous Wabash, who is set to recite the opening lines. At this stage, he can’t even speak the words “break a leg” to his fellow actors. Yet, at the last moment, he is able to speak fluently and pulls an astonishing performance out of the bag. His cast mates gather off-stage unable to believe their ears.
This reversal of our expectations is amusing, yes. But it is also deeply moving, owing to a mesmerising performance by Andrew Robinson.
The performances of actors playing like Robinson show that with enough conviction, we can be truly transported and, just for a moment, forget where we are.
Shakespeare in Love, Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington, N16 7HR, 19-29 March
