By Laurie O’Neill — [email protected]
“I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all.”
With these words, an aristocratic young woman vows to risk everything to become an actor, a profession forbidden to females in Elizabethan England. The original “Shakespeare in Love” is a 1998 film that won seven Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay for Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall about 10 years ago, the play will be performed by the Concord Players from February 14 through March 1 at the 54 Walden Street Performing Arts Center.
Bring your hankies; the play may be a romantic comedy, but it is tinged with tragedy.
The story takes place in 1593 and depicts an ill-fated fictional love affair between William “Will” Shakespeare (played by Quinton Kappel) and Viola de Lesseps (Catherine Haverkampf) while the bard is creating “Romeo and Juliet.” It examines the bard’s creative process, with all of its agony and doubt.
Viola disguises herself as a boy, Thomas Kent, winning both the role of Juliet and, when Will discovers her true identity, his heart. Though the story is fictional, several characters are based on historical figures.
From Music Man to Mercutio
Among the cast are three local actors.
Nick Miller, who appeared as Harold Hill with the Players in last year’s “The Music Man,” plays Ned Alleyn, who was “the rock star of the 1593 Elizabethan theater,” Miller says.
Shakespeare offers Alleyn the role of Romeo’s friend Mercutio, assuring the egotistical thespian he will be the show’s lead — an untruth — to get him on board.
Miller is embracing the role, saying he relishes exploring “the insecurity beneath Alleyn’s bravado.” Working with a combat director, Chris Cardoni, to make the fight scenes “technically precise and emotionally charged” has been “intense and exciting,” he adds.
A ‘fun challenge’
Johnny Penney (Robin/Lady Capulet) is making his debut with the Players and has acted in academic and community settings since he was a teenager. He serves as the patron services associate at The Umbrella Arts Center, running the box office and front-of-house operations.
As a stage technician, Penney has worked with several companies including The Umbrella, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, and The Glimmerglass Festival. His work has led to a few ensemble or walk-in roles in Equity productions.
The role of Robin in “Shakespeare in Love” is a “fun challenge” because Robin “is a man who plays women on the stage in a play that’s actually about how authentic casting tells more authentic stories,” Penney says. “It’s been a rich experience.”
Penney’s Lady Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet” isn’t meant to be a “comedic” performance, he notes, but one that is “as believable as possible.”
Guard, Goon, Priest
Another Concordian in the production is John Nimick, who plays multiple roles (and, incidentally, is a U.S. Squash Hall of Famer).
This is Nimick’s first role with the Players, and though he acted frequently in high school and a couple of times while at Princeton, he has been off the stage for 44 years. An English major in college who wrote two theses on Shakespeare, Nimick auditioned for a role in the Players’ production because “I love the movie and am a Shakespeare fan.”
Director Michelle Leibowitz “cast me perfectly,” Nimick says.
“I am a Guard, Goon, Heavy, Enforcer, Actor in the Company, and … a Priest. With a total of nine lines and a lot of grunting, heaving of bodies, and a couple of blessings, I hope to be a minor complement to the incredible leads. They are amazing.”
“Shakespeare in Love” will run from February 14 through March 1. For tickets and more information, visit concordplayers.org.
