The Big Life, by Paul Sirett

Abstract

The Big Life is a musical, created in East London by a black British team of artists, which has now transferred to the West End. Based on Love's Labor's Lost, the show follows Shakespeare's play closely but adds a twist, transposing the main conflict from that of gender to the issue of race. The play provides a fascinating example of the endurance of the English national poet, here used to explore an important period of recent English history.