Romance · History · Comedy · Drama
American
1998 · Directed by John Madden · 124 min
London, 1593. A young playwright with a deadline, rival theatres and a creditor at his door cannot write a single line, until a chance encounter changes what he thinks a play can say. A fast, witty backstage comedy that imagines how great theatre might have been born from ordinary muddle and desire.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining crowd-pleaser of late-1990s period cinema, it showed that costume drama and Shakespeare could be romantic comedy, and it became a landmark of Hollywood's awards-season campaigning.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a comedy about how art is made from borrowed lines, overheard talk, rivalry and desire, rather than as serious history.
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