Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall with music by Paddy Cunneen. Directed by David Taylor.
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July
To be performed at the Green Arena, an open air venue at Pykards Hall, Rede, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Running Time : 2hr 35 min including a 30 min interval
Gates open Saturday at 5.30pm and Sunday at 1pm.
You are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy before the show.
Entry to Arena by car •
Satnav to IP29 4AY
Turn into Pykards Hall Lane, by Pykards Hall sign.
Follow directions. Free parking.
This is an open air venue – please bring your own seating,
blankets and cushions – and please be prepared for
ALL weather.
Buy Tickets:
Saturday 19 July at 7.30pm
Sunday 20 July at 3.00pm
“I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all”.
A passionate and fun celebration of Shakespeare and the art of theatre, this hugely successful adaptation of the film has been delighting audiences since its West End premiere in 2014.
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?
Cast
VIOLA DE LESSEPS: Kizzy Parvin
WILL SHAKESPEARE: Christopher Edge
KIT MARLOWE: Nvaron R. Anderson
FENNYMAN: Thomas Witcomb
HENSLOWE: Christopher Lloyd-James
FREES : Morgan Buckley
LAMBERT : Steve Saxby
BURBAGE: Matthew Ibbotson
MISTRESS QUICKLY: Rachel Berg
QUEEN ELIZABETH: Victoria Flint
EDMUND TILNEY: Sean McMullan
NURSE: Stephanie Irvine
LADY DE LESSEPS: Rachel Berg
LORD WESSEX: Rob Ellis
CATLING: Arthur Poole
BOATMAN: Andrew Robinson
MOLLY: Rachel Berg
KATE: Caroline Bock
NED ALLEYN / Mercutio: James Collins
JOHN WEBSTER: Lucien Bornat
WARBASH: Andrew Robinson
RALPH / Nurse: Arthur Poole
SAM /Juliet: Eduardo Pelegrinello
ROBIN / Lady Capulet: Ben Anadolu
NOL / Benvolio: Simon A. Brown
ADAM: Michael Hopkins
Musicians : Vahan Salorian and members of the company
Creative Team
Director : David Taylor
Set Design : David Taylor
Costume Design : Kathleen Morrison and Jackie Robinson
Lighting Design : Stephen Ley
Sound Design : Stanley Piper and Stephen Ley
Musical Director : Vahan Salorian
Choreographer : Rachel Berg
Stage Manager : Bella Cavicchi
Production Manager : Sarah Ambrose
Assistant Director : Merle Wheldon
Fight Directors : Lyndsay Royan and Richard Kirby
Movement Director : Trinidad Prieto
ASMs : Sharna Walker, Lucy Glass
Photography by Giulia Paratelli
 Kizzy Parvin is a young actor from Kent, recently moved to London. She is currently studying at The University of Arts on a foundation majoring in Film with hopes to pursue a career both behind and in front of the camera as well as onstage. She has previously appeared back in Kent in amateur productions such as Legally Blonde as Paulette and Chicago as Roxie Hart. Shakespeare in Love is Kizzy’s debut performance at the Tower Theatre. |
 Christopher Edge is a producer and actor. Shakespeare in Love marks his debut at the Tower and he is thrilled to take on the role of Will. His acting credits include The Merchant of Venice (Assembly Roxy), Equus (University of California) and, for the radio, Macbeth (Fresh Air). A former corporate solicitor, Chris made the transition from law to producing at the start of the year and has a number of exciting projects currently in development. |
 This is Nvaron R. Anderson‘s second show at the Tower Theatre, following his performance in The Chimes last December. He is a recent Diploma graduate from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is excited to be joining the cast of Shakespeare in Love. Nvaron is also a singer-songwriter who has accumulated vast choral experience performing in Venice, New York and Barcelona. This includes an unforgettable performance at the 2016 BBC Proms, featuring Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams. He once again gives his utmost thanks to the Tower Theatre for the opportunity to cultivate his training alongside this amazing cast. |
 At an early age, Caroline Bock (née Scott) was cast as a child actor on the stage in Ireland and toured in many productions, some favourites being Macbeth, Oliver! (both at the National Concert Hall, Dublin) and Madam Butterfly at the Grand Opera House in Belfast. She completed formal training at The Abbey, British Youth Music Theatre and Aspire. She has presented for Irish and British television and obtained an Honours Law Degree from Trinity College Dublin in 2012. She works for AXA IM in their Talent & Culture department. She thanks all those who are working very hard on this production in so many, often unseen ways. She invites you to check out her YouTube channel @caroline_bock where she presents on various topics including travel and Mayan history! |
 Thomas Witcomb is a character actor and voiceover artist from London who, after leaving school and working in finance for some 18 years including in credit control and as a bookkeeper, retrained as an actor ten years ago after which he has been working both on and off the West End and just off of the West End playing roles such as a KGB agent (Sadler’s Wells), a taxi driver in the farce Funny Money (Millfield Arts Centre), and at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre as an East End gangster. With his particular penchant for Shakespeare, he’s delighted to undertake this show, his first at the Tower Theatre. |
 Christopher Lloyd-James joined the Tower Theatre in early 2024 and this is his second production following his Barnadine/Friar Peter in Measure for Measure. He also performed at the recent poetry evening. After a very long gap he started acting again seven years ago and had appeared in a play on the London Fringe and a number of short films and music videos. |
 Matthew Ibbotson joined the Tower in 2018 and has appeared in productions of Kafka’s Dick, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gainsborough’s Girls, A Passage To India, Bouncers, Twelfth Night, The Boy Who Fell Into A Book, Labour Of Love and, most recently, The Fan. When not acting he can often be found in the tech. box providing sound design or operating lights and is a current member of the Tower’s Board of Trustees, having previously served on the Management Committee. |
 Rachel Berg trained as a professional dancer and choreographer. Her dance career took her all over the world, with highlights including Sadlers Wells, Abbey Road Studios, York Minster, KoKo in Camden and the inside of a hot air balloon! Acting highlights have been Yvette from Allo Allo, Mrs Bedwin in Oliver, Gretel in Frankenstein, Miss Schneider (Zip) in Pal Joey and Catherine of Aragon in The Regina Monologues at the Gaiety Theatre Manx Festival, Isle of Man for which she received the Best Actress award. Her most recent show at the Tower was The Chimes where she played Mrs Feeder. |
 Victoria Flint is delighted to be back at the Tower after appearing as Vera in Pal Joey almost two years ago. Other favourite roles for the Tower include Sarah in Guys and Dolls, Yum Yum (Hot Mikado), April (Company), Rosalind (As You Like It), Hortense (The Boyfriend) and Gilda (Design for Living). She has also appeared in numerous shows across London including Joan in Dames at Sea (Cannizaro Park), Young Phyllis in Follies (Wimbledon Theatre), KT in Merrily We Roll Along (Bridewell) and has recently enjoyed her panto debut as the Fairy Godmother! |
 Born and raised in Torquay, Sean McMullan has now been with the Tower for almost eleven years, previously appearing in The Producers, Travesties, Chancers, Charley’s Aunt, An Enemy of the People, Improbable Fiction and The Fan. Previous roles elsewhere include Sidney (Deathtrap), Scapino (Scapino), Charlie Brown (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and various personages in Happy as a Sandbag. Sean also plays trumpet in the Big Swing Band and others. |
 This is Stephanie Irvine‘s eighth production with the Tower, following The Chimes (2024), Princess and The Hustler (2024), The Fan (2024), Richard III (2023), Improbable Fiction (2022), Coram Boy (2022), and Mules (2021). Stephanie used to be a radio journalist at the BBC World Service and now works for an environmental charity planting community orchards. |
 Rob Ellis is a theatre producer and director, originally from Yorkshire, who joined the Tower in 2016. For the Tower he has directed Clybourne Park, The 39 Steps, The Real Inspector Hound and The Merry Wives Of Windsor, which toured to Paris. For his day job, Rob is the Executive Director at Relish Theatre, a sustainable new-writing production company that platforms LGBTQ+ artists and stories. He was previously Producer at the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden. |
 Arthur Poole found his passion for theatre at university and was keen to get back into it when he moved to London. After joining the Tower Theatre in 2023, Arthur is very excited to be taking part in another production at the Tower and also in his second production with David as the director! |
 This is Simon A. Brown’s first production at the Tower Theatre. He appeared in several plays while at Oxford University, and returned to the stage with The Crouch End Players last year in his own new adaptation of horror classic The Monkey’s Paw. He’s also a BAFTA-winning screenwriter with a long career writing for TV and film, but hopes to write more for the stage in the future. When not acting or writing, he wrangles various cats. |
 Ben Anadolu is a new member at the Tower and this is his first production as an actor. Given his age, looks and station in life, he is simply thrilled to be playing the part of Lady Capulet. However, he almost fell out with the director over the shade of lipstick she should be wearing and whether he should keep his beard. He originally wanted to play the part of Juliet but was told he was too old and too ugly for that. He’s gone into therapy. He’s trying to become a director also. He’s full of ideas, suggestions and theories about theatre but nobody listens to him. He’s looking forward to working with the Tower for many years to come. |
 Michael Hopkins is appearing in his first show at the Tower Theatre. He started out as a student actor, and has since been an active member of theatre groups in North and East London over many years, in roles as diverse as Polonius (Hamlet), Pastor Manders (Ghosts), Tim (Ten Times Table), Stephen Blackpool (Hard Times) and Chanticleer (The Canterbury Tales). Most recently he has appeared in – and occasionally written for – group-devised productions with the Park Theatre Company, Finsbury Park, and has acted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Widows and The Crucible, as well as in new pieces from established playwrights Martin Murphy and Billie Esplen. |
 This is Morgan Buckley‘s first production at the Tower. Back home in Ireland, he was first introduced to acting through the UCD Drama Society where he appeared in over a dozen plays over two years. He then went on to perform with several Dublin-based theatre companies and performed in festivals in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. Since moving to London, he has acted in short films and is currently training at the London Meisner Company. Some of his past productions include The Importance of Being Earnest, Trainspotting, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. |
 Lucien Bornat is a young actor from London who studied Drama at Mossbourne Community Academy. He has also had a role in a short film called Benny Gibson: a leap of faith and has taken a short course at RADA and a six month course at Mountview. Shakespeare in Love is his first show at the Tower Theatre and he is extremely excited to play the part of John Webster. |
 Shakespeare in Love is Andrew Robinson‘s second appearance with the Tower – he appeared in Crime and Punishment last year. He has previously been involved in over 90 productions since his first stage role at the age of 3. He has acted in Sheffield, Reading, Birmingham, Frankfurt and for the last 40 years in various London Theatres, most recently at Incognito in Barnet. Acting roles include Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Lear, Demetrius and Berowne; Ibsen’s Judge Brack and Solness, Sir in The Dresser and Squire Weston in Tom Jones. He has directed over thirty productions including La Ronde (twice), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Woman Beware Woman and The Regina Monologues. He has written several original plays and adapted half a dozen more for performance. |
 Shakespeare in Love is James Collins’ first show for the Tower Theatre. He is excited to be returning to the world of acting after a hiatus of 6 years. A BA Acting graduate from Arts Educational Schools London, James has appeared in many plays – notably Cloten in Cymbeline, Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Michael in Immaculate, the Lawyer for the Defence in Machinal and Nick in What the Butler Saw. James has also appeared in several musicals and operas including Leo Bloom in The Producers, Rafe Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore, the Tenor Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and chorus in Don Giovanni, Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera and L’Elisir D’Amore. James is an artistic director for New Tricks Theatre company, for which he was co author and director of the play Back to Where. |
 Eduardo Pelegrinello is thrilled to play Sam in his second performance at the Tower Theatre after The Mirror Crack’d earlier this year. Eduardo was part of the original cast of Love Never Dies at the Donmar Warehouse, as well as performances in Titus Andronicus at the Unicorn Theatre and Bring It On at the Fortune Theatre. Currently training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he has also appeared in several amateur film productions, further exploring his artistic passions both on stage and on screen. |
 Vahan Salorian studied Classical Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2015. Often working in music for stage, Vahan’s first opera, Boys of Paradise, earned him a British New Music Theatre nomination. Other pieces have gone on to be awarded an RPS Inspire award and be shortlisted for the Fedora Prize. His music has been performed in venues as diverse as the Barbican, Milton Court, The Copeland Gallery, The Royal Institute of Psychologists, Buckingham Palace, EGG Nightclub, the National Flute Association Convention in the USA and also broadcast on BBC4. A passionate music educator and facilitator, he works as a lead tutor with Hackney Music Service, HMDT and workshop leader with English Touring Opera. |
 David Taylor‘s early years were spent tinkering with model theatres and doing school plays but his first directing job for the Tower Theatre (as a very young man) was The Boy Friend in 1975. Since then he has directed and designed and occasionally acted in a wide range of shows. Favourite plays include Pygmalion, Nicholas Nickleby, My Night With Reg, As You Like It and Lark Rise, and favourite musicals include Mr Cinders, West Side Story, On The Town, Blitz, Valmouth, Sail Away, Guys and Dolls and The Producers. which won the Minack Theatre trophy for the best production of the season in 2014. In 2016, he led the Tower’s team in their co-production with the RSC of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – A Play for the Nation, which was presented at the Barbican Theatre in London and the RSC theatre in Stratford. His most recent production was Pal Joey. |