Theatre / Shakespeare in Love. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall from the screenplay by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman.  Belco Arts until February 28. Reviewed by ALANNA MACLEAN.

This adaptation for the stage of the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love works very well as a way of showcasing lots of up and coming talent.

Director Chris Baldock makes great use of a large group of young actors, seasoned with a few veterans, on a basic set that echoes what we know of 16th century London theatres.

It’s a big busy cast of Elizabethans with quite a few familiar names if you know your way around the Shakespearean theatre scene and if you know what John Webster did when he grew up you will enjoy the references.

Will Shakespeare (Tom Cullen) is having writer’s block, despite a lot of help from a beautifully sardonic Christopher Marlowe (James Phillips). He’s trying to write a comedy called Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter when he encounters Viola de Lesseps (Asha Forno), a young woman headed into a loveless marriage with the dreadful Lord Wessex (Bruce Hardie).

She loves the theatre but only men are allowed to perform. Formo’s performance deftly shows Viola’s dilemmas but also the strength of character with which she challenges them. Viola is well ahead of Cullen’s dogged Shakespeare but it’s a strong performance partnership.

In fact there’s lovely teamwork all round as the play ranges from ramshackle theatre life to the more controlled mores of the court where Liz St Clair Long’s weary and knowing Queen Elizabeth metes out tough justice.

John Webster’s nastiness when he does not get his way is given a good bit of single-mindedness by Xan Kennedy.

Sian Harrington is a nicely steadfast Nurse whose lines cleverly echo what the character says in Romeo and Juliet. There’s more than one authorship credit to this play but it’s Stoppard’s voice and what he can do with a Shakespearian line that shines through.

The large cast bring the backstage and the pub to rambunctious life and there’s also pre-show foyer interaction that ought to become more confident as the season progresses.

An excellent way to open Mockingbird Theatre Company’s 2026 season.

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