A play based on the hit film - Shakespeare in Love - is showing at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in November.

The 1988 film starred Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay.

Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block and the deadline for his new play is fast approaching. He is struggling and in dire need of inspiration. Then he meets the beguiling Viola de Lesseps who is prepared to do anything. This includes risking the disapproval of Queen Elizabeth I – to fulfil her illicit dream of performing on stage - and pursuing a passionate love affair with the greatest playwright of the age.

This epic Elizabethan extravaganza is exuberant, witty, funny and a beautiful homage to love, art and theatre itself. During its 2014 West End run at the Noël Coward Theatre, Shakespeare in Love received five-star reviews from critics and was described as: “a swooning delight” and “an absolute joy from beginning to end”.

The stage play has been adapted by Lee Hall and is directed by Philip Breen. Hall is an English playwright who is most well-known for Billy Elliot (2000) and subsequently Billy Elliot the Musical (2005). Hall’s other screenplays include the Olivier Award winning Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (2015) and Network (2017) which stared Bryan Cranston in the role of Howard Beale and enjoyed a sell-out run at the National Theatre. Breen has most recently directed Richard Bean’s The Hypocrite (2017).

The production runs from November 5-10 and shows are at 7:45pm, with matinee performances on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm.

Tickets are priced £25/£35/£40/£45 and available from the box office on: 01223 503333 or online: www.cambridgeartstheatre.com.