Thursday night I spent one of the most delightful nights at the theater I can recall. My husband and I attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s U.S. premiere production of Shakespeare in Love, based on the 1998 film of the same name. I had thoroughly enjoyed the film and was intrigued to see whether this adaptation translated the wit, emotion and beauty of it to the stage.

I am happy to report that, without qualification, it does, indeed. I thought perhaps I would miss the cinematic elements of the settings: the raucous street and tavern scenes; the lush, quiet beauty of the gardens and riverbanks; the imposing grandeur of the great houses. The simple, minimalist set, however, evoked each of these (as a traditional Shakespearean stage can do) with the clever use of a rotating center elevated platform surrounded by curtains, a long staircase and an elevated catwalk. Artful projections on the scrim at the rear instantly transported the audience from a barge on the Thames to central London to Viola’s bedroom and back to the city.

There was nothing spare, however, when it came to the costumes, with the wealthy characters magnificently decked out in velvets and brocades, the men sporting elaborate pantaloons and codpieces and the ladies (especially Queen Elizabeth) in enormous cartwheel farthingales and fanciful ruffs and headpieces. Even the “lower” characters sported bright colors, making their antics even more delightful to follow.

Music, dance and song were generously sprinkled throughout the production, used to open a scene or conclude one, with the recurrence of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) one of the main themes (and providing the hilarious opening to the play as Will struggles with writer’s block). Authentic Elizabethan instruments and gorgeous harmonies added another layer to a beautifully crafted production.

Ah, but all the production elements would have been for naught had the performers and script not hit their marks. From the opening lines, however, there was never any doubt that all my hopes and expectations for a grand and loving homage to love, the theater and Shakespeare’s legacy would be met. As a theater major and having acted in several plays (including Two Gentlemen of Verona), I could relate to the chaos and uncertainty surrounding Will’s company as they struggle to prepare his developing Romeo and Juliet (which starts out as a comedy titled Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter). One was drawn in by the love the characters had for each other (between Viola and Will, certainly, but also between Viola and her Nurse, Will and Kit Marlowe, and all the players who supported each other in their attempts to bring the written word to life on the stage). And, of course, there was a dog.

Yes, it was a thoroughly lovely, funny, heartwarming, magical piece of theater. As the character of Henslowe often calmly and confidently remarks as events seem to be spinning out of control, “It will all come out all right. How? I don’t know how. It is a mystery!” Here’s to a wonderful mystery; I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy it yourselves.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor