Mount Baker Secondary School is taking us inside the mind of the world's greatest playwright with latest production, Shakespeare in Love.
Based on the 1998 movie by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, and the 2014 stage play adapted by Lee Hall, the production follows an undiscovered Shakespeare in his younger years, as he attempts to make it big in the London theatre scene.
The show runs Dec. 12 to 14 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 15 at 3 p.m., at Key City Theatre.
"The whole premise of the play is that Shakespeare has writer's block," said drama teacher Emily McCue.
"You see Shakespeare as this bumbling buffoon for a little bit, and he really matures and comes who he's going to become," she added.
Finn McBurney plays young Will Shakespeare and Charlee Organ plays his love interest Viola De Lesseps in this classic tale that covers the story of Shakespeare's personal life and burgeoning career. The show features snippets of some of Shakespeare's greatest works including The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Richard III and Twelfth Night, wrapped into a broader story, a sort of "play within a play."
"This play gives a nice modern, kind of dipping your toe into Shakespeare," said McCue.
"You get scenes from all of his shows without having to get such dense texts for high school kids. It's modern language and a little bit of Shakespearean language. I thought it was the perfect way to convert all of these kids to loving Shakespeare as much as I do," she added.
While the play is based around the original movie, it is a high school adaptation and departs from the original script slightly.
"The play definitely dials up the comedic aspect," said McCue. "In the movie, you have Oscar award-winning actors, so it's very raw and vulnerable, whereas the play is really silly and lots of high jinks and running around and chase-scenes."
A few other notable playwrights of the day make an appearance in the show, including Kit Marlowe and John Webster. Marlowe was considered to be a more successful playwright than Shakespeare at the time, which gave rise to theories that he authored some of Shakespeare's work. This theory has been rejected by academics though, and is speculation rather than fact.
Webster was a successor of Shakespeare's who drew inspiration from his work, but nevertheless took theatre in his own direction, writing graphic and gory plays with dark elements. In Shakespeare in Love, Webster is a young boy.
Much of Shakespeare's life in London is a mystery, so the play is not a complete biographical retelling of the playwright's life, but does include some historic details.
"We don't actually know very much about Shakespeare's life when he lived in London," McCue explained. "We know him through his plays basically and what his sonnets have been able to tell us. It's mostly a fictional telling of his life, but there's little bits of facts in there."
McCue said the play is a commentary on the importance of art from the father of modern theatre.
"Even if you've never seen a Shakespeare show, you can take something from this, about love and friendships and celebrating theatre in general," said McCue. "The play's thesis statement is how important theatre is in our community and how important it is for art and expression."
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for youth age 12 to 17 and $10 for children under 12, available through the Key City Theatre box office.
