CNY Playhouse and Artistic Director Dustin Czarny are excited to announce that we will produce “Shakespeare in Love” in February 2020. This is the Central New York amateur premiere of the show.
Shakespeare in Love is a play with music that was adapted for the stage by Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning writer Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Academy Award-winning writer Marc Norman and Tony Award, Olivier Award and Academy Award-winning writer Tom Stoppard.
Penniless and indebted to two demanding producers, struggling young playwright William Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block until he meets the beautiful Viola de Lesseps, daughter of a wealthy merchant, whose fiery passion for poetry and drama leaves her secretly longing to be an actor.
Both are despondent when they learn that Viola’s father has promised her to the stuffy Lord Wessex in order to gain a title for their family. Under the veil of secrecy, Will and Viola’s passionate love affair becomes the basis of the very play he is writing – Romeo and Juliet.
With opening night – and the wedding day – fast approaching, the plots race toward a parallel conclusion. Will it all work out in the end or are the two star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy?
The Central New York Playhouse production of Shakespeare In Love will be directed by Czarny and run Feb. 14 through 29, 2020. Auditions will be held in October 2019, and tickets will go on sale in November 2019.