Philip Henslowe

Joseph Fiennes stars as Will Shakespeare, who finds inspiration for his new play when he falls in love with Viola de Lesseps, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, a wealthy merchant's daughter disguised as a man to follow her dreams of becoming an actor.

Shakespeare in Love also stars, I pulled a bunch of names because there are a lot of people in this movie, also stars Jeffrey Rush as theater owner Philip Henslow, Colin Firth as Viola's betrothed Lord Wessex, Imelda Staunton as Viola's nurse, Tom Wilkinson as moneylender Hugh Fenneman, Ben Affleck as the actor Ned Allen, Jim Carter as the actor Ralph Bashford, Simon Callow as master of the Rebels Edmund Tilney, Martin Clunes as rival theater owner Richard Burbage, Rupert Everett as playwright Christopher Marlowe, and Dame Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I.

Real murderer's row of British talent.

Yeah, and also our reunion for Jefferson and Paris.

It was first registered anonymously with the Stationer's Company in February 1594, with a note that it had already been performed by three different playing companies, and it was wildly successful.

Theatre impresario Philip Henslow's diary from the time says, records that its opening performance in January 1594 earned £3.08. Now, that might not seem like a lot in our time, but back then, the sum made it the most profitable play of the year that day.

Not bad for a debut, Will.

Elizabethan audiences loved a good revenge tragedy full of bloody murders and brutality, and the success of Thomas Kidd's The Spanish Tragedy had already proven just how hungry those audiences were for that kind of visceral, edge-of-your-seat storytelling.