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Shakespeare-inspired play based on popular movie coming to Langley stage

COVID presents challenges for local theatre company’s first production of 2022
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Langley’s Theatre In The Country will present it’s first show of the year on Feb. 10. The locations features a 14- foot revolving stage. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

A Shakespearean tale in a not-so-Shakespearean language is coming to Langley’s Theatre in the Country.

A romance-comedy drama with sword fighting, Shakespeare in Love is an adaptation of Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman’s 1998 academy award winning screenplay.

Directed by Emma Graveson, the play tells the story of William Shakespeare falling in love with a woman. He later discovers that the woman is actually an actor he is working with but couldn’t recognize as she was pretending to be a man during the rehearsals.

Reginald Parks, the producer and artistic director of the play, said that women couldn’t be on the stage during the Shakespearean era, and hence, it makes the situation complicated but funny for the audience to watch.

According to Parks, the movie adaptation allowed them to enter into the world of Shakespeare without doing a Shakespearean play. He knows that some people find Shakespeare’s language complex, and hence the new drama allowed his team to briefly touch the ideas of the English dramatist but add an element of fun to it.

Langley’s Theatre In The Country will present it’s first show of the year on Feb. 10. The locations features a 14- foot revolving stage. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Langley’s Theatre In The Country will present it’s first show of the year on Feb. 10. The locations features a 14- foot revolving stage. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Not only will it be the local theatre’s first show of the year, but also, this will be the crew’s first time performing Shakespeare in Love in front of a live audience.

Live theatre had its ups and downs during COVID, and Parks, who is also the owner of Langley’s Theatre in the Country, too has faced a lot of bumps. He added that because of the fear of someone from the team getting COVID, they had to find understudies for each role, a practice that required additional resources.

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“We had never done it before. Normally we do a three-week run, but this time it was like asking a lot from someone as actors had to step in everytime someone got sick.”

One good thing that happened to Parks during the pandemic was that he could obtain the rights to make the movie’s adaptation. He said that the pandemic did not allow many theatre companies to offer live shows, and so “fortunately,” getting the rights became easier.

Graveson said it was hard to manage a large crew of more than 40 people during the pandemic.

“When they chose to do the play, COVID was around and things were hard to pull off. People were always quarantining,” she said.

Parks shared that there are 17 actors involved playing multiple characters. The actors in the play switch from one character to another so often that Parks said he has lost track of the total number of characters.

“For safety reasons, let’s just say more than 25,” he commented with a grin.

Graveson said she is excited about the play, and the pandemic made it an ambitious project.

“It has live music, intimacy, action, and a dog. It will leave audiences inspired and uplifted,” she said.

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Graveson had formerly worked at the local theatre as an actor and apprentice director. She said that the theatre is known for offering great works.

“It is great to be working with people who are passionate, inclusive, and welcoming,” Graveson added.

Shakespeare in Love will run from Feb. 10 to 26, at the Theatre in the Country, located at 5708 Glover Rd.

Tickets are available online at theatreinthecountry.com. The decade-old theatre features a 14- foot revolving stage that allows the crew to take the audience through multiple locations quickly.

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Have a story tip? Email: tanmay.ahluwalia@langleyadvancetimes.com
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Langley’s Theatre In The Country will present it’s first show of the year on Feb. 10. The locations features a 14- foot revolving stage. (Special to Langley Advance Times)


Tanmay Ahluwalia

About the Author: Tanmay Ahluwalia

Tanmay Ahluwalia is a journalist with a digital mindset and a proud alumnus of the University of Delhi.
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