The frocks in question, created by costume designer Gabriela Tylesova, are works of art. During the ball scene all the gorgeous girls are actually all very handsome men in wigs and huge frocks.” “It’s been the happiest rehearsal room I’ve been in,” she says.ĭirected by Simon Phillips and with Michael Wahr as Will Shakespeare, Deidre and Claire van der Boom (Viola) are the only women in the cast, which allows the production to play with gender in even more ways. “Audiences love her and call out for her to take curtain calls with everyone at the end.”īut it’s not just audiences who have loved the play, with rave reviews following the production from where it’s just wrapped in Melbourne.ĭeidre, who plays the roles of the Queen, Viola’s nurse and a tavern prostitute, is equally complimentary of all her cast mates. I’ve also been wanting to know who will be playing the pooch and now I have the insider knowledge thanks to a chat with cast member Deidre Rubenstein, who tells me that the part went to Daisy the dog, who Deidre describes as “adorable”.
That particular star turn way back in November 2018 was highlighting that the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Shakespeare In Love was coming to the CTC in 2019, and I’ve been looking forward to the opening ever since.
And considering how delighted the audience was when a dog ran across the stage during the Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC) 2019 program launch last year, I’d say he was definitely on to something. Henslowe, with his helpful advice, is hoping to inspire young Will to give up tragic tales of loss and despair and actually write something the public wants to see. Will this be a case of star-crossed lovers or a happy ever after? When he finds out, Will ignores the ban on women performers in the Elizabethan theatre, and the two fall in love. Little does he know that Thomas is actually Viola, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who is pledged to marry the unpleasant Lord Wessex and desperate for a life of her own. When Thomas, an untried actor, impresses him with a powerful audition he thinks he’s found the perfect Romeo. Will is suffering writer’s block as he tries to finish his latest play, Romeo and Ethel The Pirate’s Daughter. “Love and a bit with a dog, that’s what they want,” says Phillip Henslowe, owner of The Rose Theatre, to struggling playwright Will Shakespeare, early on in Shakespeare in Love. Expect star-crossed lovers, laughs and a dog when Shakespeare in Love opens at Canberra Theatre Centre this evening.