There are many conspiracy theories about who “really” wrote Shakespeare’s works. It’s almost always suggested that an uneducated, modest man from Stratford surely couldn’t have had enough “genius” to produce the hugely influential body of work he is credited with. Leading contenders for the authentic author include Sir Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere and Christopher Marlowe. But with enough time stretching between Shakespeare’s heyday and today, who “really” wrote the works might be the wrong question altogether.
Venus and Adonis, from Sport for Jove Theatre Company’s artistic director Damien Ryan, suggests that “who was Shakespeare really?” is indeed the wrong question. The play instead posits that Shakespeare was a “merciless magpie” stealing from the books, artworks and people around him. One of those people was Aemilia Lanyer, the first female poet ever published in the English language (in her own name!) and believed to be one of Shakespeare’s many lovers.
Venus and Adonis is a poem, within a play, within a play – and it’s a magnificent adventure through the delights, tragedies and passions of making art from life (Shakespearean or otherwise).
The play, written and directed by Ryan, is based on a similar film released by Sport for Jove in 2020, which is in turn based on Shakespeare’s erotic poem of the same name. In the central storyline, Shakespeare is asked to present a performance of Venus and Adonis as the opener for Elizabeth I’s own masque performance. Shakespeare asks Aemilia to play Venus – and after she indignantly argues against it, she decides to accept. With mixed effects, Ryan supplements this central storyline with the tragic death of Shakespeare’s young son and the havoc this wreaks on himself, his wife, and his remaining daughters back in Stratford – along with short scenes of Shakespeare performing the sonnets that he may have drawn from the events of the play.
The stage design (also by Ryan) and the costumes by Bernadette Ryan are lush in texture and colour, adding to the sensuality of the scenes between Aemilia and Shakespeare –emphasising the gilded world they work in. Notable highlights are the use of soft white curtains that later reveal a collection of gold mirrors which bring light and warmth to the stage, and also Aemilia’s red and gold brocade gown. Sophie Parker’s lights accentuate the gold tones in court and in the “backstage” scenes, and then darken to blues and whites in the more tragic scenes.
Adele Querol plays a fiery Aemilia Lanyer, full of clever quips and arguments that are convincingly worthy of stealing by Shakespeare. Her intellect, embodied passion and conviction make her an excellent (if somewhat secret) leading voice. Anthony Gooley’s Shakespeare is the typical bohemian artist, full of words and ideas. He’s forthright and larger than life – and not afraid to collect inspiration from wherever it comes, even if he might be afraid to admit when exactly it makes it into his work. Belinda Gilbin plays Elizabeth I with a great sense of the comedy and tragedy in what it’s like to be a woman as well as a queen. Jerome Meyer is vulnerable and very funny as Nathaniel Field, an expert in Shakespeare’s female roles, and his jealousy burns throughout the piece. The ensemble of players is equally brilliant, revelling in the slapstick and punny humour of Ryan’s modern Shakespeare-esque speech.
Ryan’s ability to precisely balance comedy and tragedy makes Venus and Adonis’s almost three-hour runtime fly by. The opening scenes, projected onto soft fabric curtains, feel a little “throat-clearing” – the play really ramps up when Shakespeare and Aemilia share their first scene discussing her new poem and their complicated love for each other. Once it gets going, it doesn’t stop, and there are only a few awkwardly placed moments of densely-worded emotion that click together in the play’s glorious ending. After the performance of Venus and Adonis for the queen ends, which is met with well-deserved howls from both Aemilia and Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway (Bernadette Ryan), Elizabeth I performs a beautiful piece of poetry directly to Lanyer that makes you remember who this play is really about.
Venus and Adonis is a poem, within a play, within a play – and it’s a magnificent adventure through the delights, tragedies and passions of making art from life (Shakespearean or otherwise). Written and directed with Ryan’s Shakespearean expertise (after almost 30 years of producing and adapting the Bard’s works!), the play uses imagination and a sense of humour to argue that perhaps no one truly writes anything on their own, and some of them just aren’t afraid to, well, “collaborate”. If a mediocre white man can do it, why can’t Eve?
Venus and Adonis plays at the Seymour Centre, Chippendale, until October 21, 2023. Tickets are $54 at full price, $42 for concession, and $39 for under-35s and groups of 8+. Get yours over here.
