Photo Flash: First Look at Stratford Festival's North American Premiere of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

The Stratford Festival presents the North American premiere of Shakespeare in Love, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard and adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, creator of the stage and screen versions of Billy Elliot. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

Can a play show us the very truth and nature of the world's greatest playwright? As the Bard's legacy is celebrated around the globe in 2016 with Shakespeare 400, the boisterous new comedyShakespeare in Love takes a glorious stab at doing just that. But with little known of Shakespeare beyond the dates of his birth and death - both April 23 - the fun is all in the imagining.

Olivier Award-winner Declan Donnellan takes the helm, as he did for the show's hit London West End run in 2014-15, directing a sensational cast, led by Luke Humphrey as the youngWilliam Shakespeareand Shannon Taylor as his muse, Viola de Lesseps, with Tom McCamus as Fennyman, Stephen Ouimette as Henslowe, Karen Robinson as the Nurse and Saamer Usmanias Kit Marlowe. Nick Ormerod will design.

In the Stratford production, Will Shakespeare will be played by Luke Humphrey, a young actor who quickly established himself as a leading player on the Stratford stage and beyond. The production also stars Shannon Taylor, Tom McCamus, Stephen Ouimette, Karen Robinson, andSaamer Usmani.

Photo Credit: David Hou