SERIES PREMIERE: ABC’s current
Still Star-Crossed provides a sequel of sorts to William Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet, but without any real verve, style, or reason to watch. Tonight’s new TNT series,
Will, seeks inspiration from Shakespeare, too, but this time from the playwright, not his plays. It’s been done before, of course, in
Shakespeare in Love and in several other attempts, incuding the 1978 British miniseries
Will Shakespeare: His Life and Times, starring Tim Curry. But this new outing is by Craig Pearce, who also wrote some shaken-and-stirred Shakespeare with the 1996 film
Romeo + Juliet, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring a very young Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. This time, Shakespeare, as an aspiring local playwright hoping to make his mark in the big city, is played by Laurie Davidson. He arrives in London to the throbbing tune of “London Calling” by the Clash, and many of the city’s rakish residents sport such anachronistic items of apparel as spiked collars and leather and chains. Yes, it’s a curious mixture of period and punk – and while it doesn’t completely work, it comes close enough to spend a few hours with to watch it try and find its way. One problem is that poor Will is overshadowed by some of his supporting characters – specifically, Jamie Campbell Bower as rival playwright Christopher Marlowe and Olivia DeJonge as the daughter of the theater impresario (the reliable Colm Meaney), who matches young Will in vocabulary and imagination as well as good looks. The pieces don’t all fit, but whenever the company performs in the approximation of the Old Globe,
Will is fun indeed. Turns out, the Bard was right: the play’s the thing.
For full reviews, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and
Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.