If You Swooned For Shakespeare In Love, You Need To Watch This New TV Show

Ah Shakespeare, to some a brilliant poet and playwright, to others a verbose reminder of AP English. But who among us hasn't fallen for one of the more modern retellings of the Bard's famous plays? Oh, that I were the screen upon that laptop that I might rewatch Shakespeare In Love for the hundredth time. If this sounds like a much more poetic version of yourself, then you are in luck. As if it were penned by destiny like the meeting of two star-crossed lovers, we have found your summer show. TNT has released the trailer for its new drama Will which is set to premiere this summer.

The trailer depicts the early life of a young Shakespeare filled with a love triangle, raucous crowds at the Globe Theatre, heroes and villains, and fervent writing. Sounds quite Shakespearean if I do say so myself. While some retellings of the playwright's complexly human stories stick to the traditional with original dialogue, others scrap the pretense entirely and opt for a modern setting entirely different. It appears that TNT's show will be striking a middle ground, incorporating a slightly more vibrant and stylized aesthetic, while maintaining the original setting like many period dramas.

Though Will is played by newcomer, Laurie Davidson, you may recognize some of the faces in the trailer. Namely, Jamie Campbell Bower who you might know from, The Twilight Saga, as Christopher Marlowe, a fellow poet and Shakespeare’s main rival, and from Trainspotting's Ewen Bremner as the notorious investigator and torturer Richard Topcliffe.

Both of their characters, even in the short two minutes of the trailer, pose quite a threat to Shakespeare and the theatre world as he knows it. Like Shakespeare In Love, the show is a semi-fictionalized dramatization of what the life of the legendary playwright might have been like played out by young and beautiful actors. It shows not only the plays themselves, but the unglamorous lives of those in theatre at the time. If you are a fan of Shakespeare, period dramas, or just drama in general, it looks like it will be a compelling watch. Will premieres on TNT on July 10.