Shakespeare in Love

Will Shakespeare is suffering from severe writers block. He's been comissioned by Philip Henslowe to write "Romeo and Ethel, the pirates daughter" but somehow he can't seem to get started on it. However, in order to compete with Richard Burbank's theatre, Henslowe's company needs to begin auditions. Lady Viola's deepest ambition is to be an actor. Women parts were always played by men though, and the fact that Lady Viola just that: a memeber of the aristocracy makes her dream seem far away. She hears of the auditions though and dresses up as a boy and auditions for Romeo. Will is so impressed by him/her that he hires him/her immediately. He chases Viola across London to her home, and at night sneeks into the house trying to find him/her. Instead he meets Viola and falls rapidly in love with her, unaware that she is the lead in his play.

Will and Viola meet
Viola is engaged to the Earl of Wessex but this doesn't stop her having an affair with Will. Will is so infatuated with her, even though they can never publicly declare their love, that he creates much of the new play "Romeo and Juliet". Viola's deception is uncovered by a street urchin and she is banned from the theatre. At the same time, Henslowe is forbidden from producing the play. Viola is due to be married to Wessex and time is running out. Burbank comes to the rescue and offers to put on the play in his theatre. His offer is gratefully received and the eagerly awaited performance is due to begin. Shortly before this, Lady Viola's wedding takes place. Immediately after the marriage she evades her husband and heads straight to the theatre. The cast, consisting of a stutterer and a Juliet with stage fright look set to ruin the play and Will is despairing. Henslowe and Burbank are seated near to Viola and she overhears them discussing the Juliet problem. She immediately volunteers for the role, and Burbank with nothing to lose agrees. The stutterer doesn't stutter and the play brings the house down.

the end of the play
As the crowd cheers, Tilney, Master of the Revels appears and orders the theatre to close. However Queen Elizabeth is also there and declares that the play was a success and overrules the decree. Will and Viola realise that they cannot be together, as she is legally married to Wessex and not even the Queen can change this. She does give him an idea for his next play though................
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