When George Olesky auditioned for the role of William Shakespeare in SpeakEasy Stage Company’s upcoming production of “Shakespeare in Love,” something clicked.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I get this guy,’ ” he remembers.
No, Olesky wasn’t suggesting he possessed the writing skills of the greatest playwright in the history of the English language. Instead, the kinship Olesky felt with Shakespeare was much more visceral, much more human.
“He’s passionate, he’s quick to love, and he gets in his own way,” says Olesky, citing his similarities with this stage version of the Bard. “He also has a sense of humor about himself and about being an artist. In America, it’s helpful to have a sense of humor about being an artist.” And then, appropriately, Olesky laughs.
Nice to see that getting cast as the most important person in theater history hasn’t gone to the actor’s head. In conversation, Olesky is self-effacing and engaging. And if he’s in a particularly good mood these days, perhaps it’s because he knows he just landed a dynamite role.
The play, which makes its New England premiere when it runs Jan. 12 to Feb. 10 at the Boston Center for the Arts, is based on the movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1998. The story is a fanciful riff on the circumstances surrounding Shakespeare’s creation of “Romeo and Juliet,” as the Bard pursues a star-crossed romance with the woman who becomes his muse.
Olesky remembers seeing the film many years ago, but now that he’s deep into rehearsals, he more fully appreciates that this role is gold.
“You get to do everything,” he says, “comedy, tragedy, romance. There’s sword-fighting, dancing and even drag. You also get to do the highlights from ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ It’s a dream role.”
Adapted by Lee Hall, the play is episodic: Many scenes are short and the transitions are quick. As a result, Olesky thinks the story flies.
“After our first read-through, we all thought, Wow, that was fast,” says the actor. “The play has this great momentum. So many things happen. There’s levity in the story, but the characters also have a lot to lose.”
Although there’s no mistaking the fact that this play was born from the film (screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard), Olesky believes the stage version has a different focus. He vaguely remembers the movie’s emphasis on the romance between Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow). Although the stage version, with Whitman actress Jennifer Ellis in the role of Viola, certainly retains that romance, Olesky believes its spotlight shines elsewhere.
“Our version is more about theater-makers putting on a play,” he says. “That’s how we’re staging it: It’s a group of actors putting on a play about a group of actors putting on a play.”
Things have come full circle for Olesky: It was Shakespeare who ignited his passion for theater.
The actor, who was raised in Newton, speaks warmly about his education at The Cambridge School of Weston, and one of his fondest memories is the bare-bones production of “Hamlet” that the school staged. Olesky hadn’t been particularly interested in the theater up until then, but that experience was transformational.
“I played Laertes,” he remembers. “I got to channel all my adolescent rage into this jealous brother [of Ophelia],” he adds with a laugh. “It was awesome. The whole experience was extraordinary.”
Now he’s graduated from playing a vengeful brother to history’s most revered writer. Olesky doesn’t seem intimidated by the challenge. Perhaps that’s because director Scott Edmiston offered him a view of the play that Olesky found liberating.
“Scott said he sees the play as a creation myth,” says Olesky. “That really broke it open for me.”
The actor appreciated the analogy to a story that tells the origin of a superhero like Batman.
“It’s liberating because it’s not academic,” he says, freed by the fact that he’s not trying to give an authentic portrayal of young William Shakespeare. “It takes it out of the realm of academics. This is mythic and larger-than-life.”
As he develops the character, Olesky has avoided watching the movie again.
“I’m concerned that I’d be influenced by something in the movie,” he says. “I don’t want to find myself channeling something from the film.”
Is Olesky worried that the audience will be comparing this stage version to a movie with a multimillion-dollar budget?
“I suppose that’s inevitable,” he says. “But I think it’s good that the movie came out so long ago. If it was released in the past five years, it would still be fresh in everyone’s mind.”
Although the film, at its core, is a romantic comedy, Olesky isn’t afraid to aim high with this stage version. He thinks there’s enough meat in the material to give audiences something to chew on during the ride home, and beyond.
“In a way, it’s a play about a guy who believes in the potential of theater and art,” says Olesky. “He steps outside of himself and he takes some risks and he breaks some rules, and then he makes something great. If the play inspires someone in the audience to see a new way of approaching their art, or their life, then that’s exciting.”
“Shakespeare in Love”
WHEN: Jan. 12-Feb. 10
WHERE: Boston Center for the Arts
TICKETS: Start at $25
INFO: 617-933-8600, speakeasystage.com