Christopher Gray sees a leading local star

Oxford-raised actor Tom Bateman takes a giant stride towards stardom with his stunning performance in the title role of the West End’s hit of the year. A charismatic blend of swaggering confidence, intellectual gravitas and infectious fun marks his portrayal of the Bard of Avon in Lee Hall’s stage adaptation of the award-winning film Shakespeare in Love. The sexual chemistry he sparks with co-star Lucy Briggs-Owen is a joy to watch in a show that gloriously celebrates the wonder of theatre.

Cherwell School alumnus Bateman, once an ornament of the Oxford amateur stage, hit the big time straight from drama college when he was cast alongside David Tennant in a sell-out Much Ado About Nothing. He later wowed critics with his bed-busting activities in the Old Vic’s production of John Webster’s infamous gore-fest, The Duchess of Malfi.

Webster, in fact, figures prominently in Shakespeare in Love, as a brattish thesp (played by Colin Ryan) with a preternatural interest in violent death. In his careful revision of Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s screenplay, Lee also supplies a beefed-up role for the Bard’s main dramatic rival Christopher Marlowe (David Oakes), who is also shown to be an inspiration to his temporarily dried-up muse.

The principal one of course — in this fictitious take on Shakespeare’s amorous life — is the lovely Viola De Lesseps (Briggs-Owen). Though promised by her money-bags dad (Richard Howard) in a cash-for-title deal with the impecunious aristocrat baddie Lord Wessex (Alistair Petrie), the lovely lady has dramatic ambitions and a devotion to poetry that draw her irresistably to the Bard. Obliged to cross-dress to act in his company, she is unmasked by a droll boatman (Thomas Padden) who tells Will — in words of Hall’s happy invention — “She has always been a bit of a tomboy.”

Happy, too, is the prominence Hall affords the company dog Spot, played by the lovable labradoodle Barney. His surprising interventions bring so much fun to the show.

Directed in roisterous ensemble style by Declan Donnellan and designed by his Cheek by Jowl partner Nick Ormerod, the production benefits hugely from Paddy Cunneen’s plangent period music, superbly played and sung by members of the cast.

Kill for tickets.

Shakespeare in Love
Noël Coward Theatre
Booking until October 25
0844 482 5141, ShakespeareInLove.com