I'll admit it. I really like Shakespeare in Love. I think it's a clever and entertaining spin on Shakespeare with a great cast. The only Oscar victory I disagree with is Gwyneth Paltrow winning Best Actress, but that takes nothing away from the quality of her performance. I just preferred Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. Now, in London, you can see a live adaptation of Shakespeare in Love that looks like a lot of fun. Disney Theatricals teamed up with Sonia Friedman Productions to adapt the popular romance into a stageplay.
The conceit, fittingly, is straight up Shakespeare. This looks like the Royal Shakespeare Company's level of period accuracy applied to historical fiction. You can see the three arches behind the stage, the platform containing live musicians above the stage, and the beautifully detailed costumes.
The play clearly takes its character cues from the film, which is a good and bad thing. It would be nice to have seen more innovation in, say, the wig design or presentation of characters. I don't believe the short blonde wig versus the long flowing curls is so iconic to the film that it needed to be imported straight to the stage version.
It's a minor quibble. The highlight reel shows full Shakespearean splendor. Did you hear the gorgeous arrangement of Sonnet 18? Or see the jaunty dance for the curtain call within the show? I'm sold.
I believe this production was originally planned to transfer to Broadway at some point and I hope that comes true. Shakespeare in Love might not be the most popular film, but the stage adaptation looks like a real crowd pleaser.