Written by orange• February 17, 2025• 1:59 am• fullerton, Maverick Theatre, Theater, Uncategorized

Shakespeare in Love @ Maverick Theater – Review

photo credit: Brian Newell

Written by Patrick Chavis

Shakespeare in Love is playing now at the Maverick Theater from February 7 – March 16, 2025.

Some of the same magic from the Oscar-winning film and a little more – so steamy you might need to wipe your glasses. Romance is heating up at the Maverick just in time for February.

As I mentioned, Shakespeare in Love is based off the 1998 Oscar-winning film set around a fictional portrayal of Shakespeare. A young William Shakespeare (Justyn Gonzalez) finds inspiration and love through a muse named Viola De Lesseps (Samantha Green). Their forbidden love turns into an affair that inspires one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. I’ll let you guess which one.

Story:

Like any genre, the rom-com can sometimes run directly into the smarmy camp, and maybe it does more often than others. Shakespeare in Love is one of those many exceptions. Call it the thinking man’s rom-com. There’s more to it than just boy meets girl. It’s about a culture so restrictive that you couldn’t have women on stage portraying women or any other role. That social status, which was almost preordained at birth, couldn’t contain genuine Love between two people. Some might rather die than not be together, such as in Romeo and Juliet.

Direction:

Director Brian Newell took a unique approach to the production, displaying projected credits at the show’s beginning as if it were a real movie—the tasteful placement of music enhanced the romance and whimsy.

Newell’s use of space in particular sections of the stage was particularly effective in telling the story. For example, Newell placed many of the intimate scenes between Viola and Shakespeare at one of the higher points of the stage, cut off from the rest of the set. The symbolism in having largely only William and Viola in that space is as if it’s the one slice of the world only for them worked. The sliding boat seems to glide in for the romantic boat scenes, the tasteful, I would say necessary Love making scenes that only show just enough from the vantage point of the stage are quite impactful.

Acting:

Samantha Green gave a brave and enthusiastic performance as Viola De Lesseps. The passion she displayed on stage—you can’t fake that. The romantic chemistry between her and Justyn Gonzales was off the charts. I imagine it will continue after the show. That’s how convincing it was between these two actors—delivering each line with such precision and grace.

Powerful stuff from these leads.

Fight Choreographer Andrew Pinion’s sword and fight sequences thrilled.

Set Design/Acting:

Alex Conway’s beautiful design is a gift. I’m perplexed and still lost in this small world he’s created. Shakespeare’s in Love, and I’m in love with this design. And, of course, fantastic work to all the hard-working people who were needed to build this structure: Aiziah Soto, Jackson Newell, and Nathan Swiderski.

William may have forgotten Rosaline, but Nina Rae truly made the performance memorable.

Sarah-Jane Finch’s performance as Queen Elizabeth was short but effective.

Patrick Peterson’s performance as the kind and poetic Kit Marlowe played a vital part in making this show sing.

Once again, the Maverick Theater is coming out swinging and showing why they’ve been a long-running indie theater; this exceptional production is as far as you need to look.