Shakespeare in Love

Based on the award winning film. Love, tragedy and writer's block!

based on the screenplay by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Music by Paddy Cunneen
presented by Shattered Windscreen Theatre Company
Directed by Jan Palmer Sayer and Chris Janes

It’s 1593, and there’s trouble at The Rose Theatre. Money problems, inter-playhouse rivalries and a busybody censor all frustrate the progress of a new crowd-pleaser – Romeo and Ethel, Daughter of the Pirate King. And Will Shakespeare is suffering from serious writer’s block. It’s only when he falls in love with stage-struck noblewoman Viola de Lesseps that the juices begin to flow and with substantial help from his mate, Christopher Marlowe, he begins to fashion his most famous love story.

Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, from the original screenplay, this new version is a love letter to theatre itself and one that celebrates the way magic and mystery are born out of chaos and confusion.

Shattered Windscreen have been regular visitors to the Minack since 2001. Previous productions include The Wicked Lady (2017), I, Don Quixote (2019), The 39 Steps (2021), and in 2023, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. The company won the Minack Trophy in 2015 with The Grapes of Wrath and have been runners up 3 times since then.

Shakespeare in Love was originally produced on the West End by Disney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions, directed by Declan Donnellan, and designed by Nick Ormerod.