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AVAILABLE NOW!
ROGUE SHAKESPEARE®
3 PLAYS
OUT NOW – published in paperback, a collection of 3 of Ryan J-W Smith’s award-winning & critically acclaimed verse plays:
Pretty, Witty Nell®
– OFFIES award winner 2025
– Fringe Review – OUTSTANDING SHOW 2024
Love Labours Won
– Hollywood Fringe International Award Winner 2015
– Pick of the Fringe – Edinburgh 2006 & 2007
Romeo & Juliet it Aint!
(or Sweet Love Adieu (version II))
– Hollywood Fringe International Award Nominee 2016
ROGUE SHAKESPEARE® - 3 PLAYS
NEW – THIRD EDITION – B Format
AS SEEN ON
ROGUE SHAKESPEARE®
2001-2025
Rogue Shakespeare® is Ryan J-W Smith’s artistic pseudonym, as well as the name of his critically-acclaimed international theatre company that has been producing his award-winning verse plays since 2001.
Ryan J-W Smith, MA Law (Dist), is a multi-award winning verse playwright and critically-acclaimed poet. To date he has written over 3,000 Shakespearean sonnets (that’s 42,000 lines of verse), 7 verse plays, 1 verse screenplay.
Smith’s first 500 sonnets were published to universal acclaim in 2012 in his book ‘500 Shakespearean Sonnets’; his book of 3 plays ‘Rogue Shakespeare: 3 Plays’ was published in summer 2023, and his latest record-shattering epic poetic trilogy, Rogue Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Truth in Verse – parts I, II & III (available either in 3 separate books, or in one combined book ‘Rogue Shakespeare’s Bible’) containing over 2,700 prophetic/spiritual/political/philosophical sonnets, will be published very soon, in the summer of 2025.
With Rogue Shakespeare®, Smith’s accolades include: OFFIES OffFest Award Winner 2025; two-time Hollywood Fringe International Award Winner; two-time Encore Producers’ Award Winner; Hollywood Fringe Comedy Award Nomination; Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award Nomination; Gandhi Foundation Award Recipient; three-time Arts Council England Award Recipient, two-time ‘Pick of the Fringe’ (Edinburgh), The Observer (Newspaper) Fringe Promoter of the Year, and countless professional 4 and 5-star reviews.
Smith’s best-known works include:
PLAYS: (date indicates year of first performance)
Pretty, Witty Nell® (2019)
Romeo & Juliet it Ain’t! (aka Sweet Love Adieu – version II) (2016)
MacDeth! (2016)
New World Order (2008)
Love Labours Won (2006)
Sweet Love Adieu (original version, 2001)
BOOKS:
Rogue Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Truth in Verse – part I (forthcoming – Aug 12th 2025)
Rogue Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Truth in Verse – part II (forthcoming – Aug 12th 2025)
Rogue Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Truth in Verse – part III (forthcoming – Aug 12th 2025)
Rogue Shakespeare’s Bible: Truth in Verse – parts I, II & III (forthcoming – Aug 12th 2025)
ROGUE SHAKESPEARE: 3 Plays (published July 4, 2023)
500 Shakespearean Sonnets (published July 4, 2012)
FILMS:
The Poet Cursed (2012)
★★★★★
“Definitely Shakespeare for a modern audience”
– UK Theatre Network
“It’s a noble project”
– The Reviews Hub
“a landmark in literature”
– WATKINS MAGAZINE
“there is culture – if you want it”
– St. Albans Observer
“Smith has done an astonishing job”
– BROADWAY BABY
★★★★★
“FLAWLESS”
– EDINBURGH GUIDE
“Smith – master of the iambic pentameter, cleverly matches Shakespeare at his own game”
– Hairline
Ryan J-W Smith winning the Hollywood Fringe International Award for the 2nd year in a row, 2016.
“The Bard Mark Two – it’s staggering!”
– BBC
“Smith – A magnet for awards and critical acclaim”
– BROADWAY WORLD
“SHOWS TO SEE!”
– TIME OUT
★★★★★
“The best Shakespearean comedy not written by Shakespeare – UNMISSABLE!”
– THREE WEEKS
“Smith must have a direct line to the Almighty!”
– British Theatre Guide
“Stunning and convincingly delivered”
– THE LIST MAGAZINE
“Masters of the verse – Smith & Shakespeare”
– London Planner
“Great fun!”
– The Stage
Fringe Promoter of the Year 2007
– The Obvserver
“Methinks it’s a treat!”
– Whitby Gazette
“a tour de force”
– Herald Scotland
★★★★★
“Smith’s writing is exquisite…
Simply put this is a work of genius!”
– Pink Prince Theatre
“an obviously accomplished actor of impeccable comedic timing and presence”
– LA Stage Reviews
“Smith – a no-shit-taking-thespian-mo-fo!
– Bravo sir!”
– METRO
“a tremendous talent – deserves to sit alongside your Poes, Plaths and T.S. Eliots”
– MASS MOVEMENT MAGAZINE
“The reinventions keep coming… from the iconoclastic British writer and poet, Ryan J-W Smith”
– Cultural Weekly
“Reading through Ryan J-W Smith’s bio is a depressing affair. Read through it when you’re enjoying a particularly productive phase and it will still, more than likely, make you feel like a pathetic underachiever. Thing is, Smith doesn’t just do all these things – he does them exceptionally well.”
– INPRESS MAGAZINE
“I have never come across such a talented living poet-playwright as Ryan J-W Smith”
– St. Albans Times
selectedAWARDS
&
NOMINATIONS
ROGUE HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR 20+ YEAR PRODUCTION HISTORY
PRETTY, WITTY NELL®
WINNER – OFFIES OffFest Award 2025
Fringe Review – OUTSTANDING SHOW – 2024
Nominated for the Hollywood Fringe International Award 2019
Ryan J-W Smith winning the OFFIES OffFest Award 2025 for his Pretty, Witty Nell®
“A standout solo show – PERFECT!”
– Broadway World
WINNER – OFFIES OffFest Award 2025
On March 17th, 2025, Ryan was awarded an OFFIES OffFest award 2025, for his 7th verse play, Pretty, Witty Nell.
The 15th annual Off-West End Awards (‘the Offies’) ceremony took place in London’s prestigious 875 seat Great Hall at Central Hall Westminster that over looks Westminster Abbey and Big Ben
Ryan J-W Smith winning the OFFIES OffFest Award 2025 for his Pretty, Witty Nell®
NEXT ROGUE SHAKESPEARE SHOWS!
BARONS COURT THEATRE, LONDON – 7.30pm JULY 22-26, 2025
Then we tour to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!
BEDLAM THEATRE, EDINBURGH – 6.30pm AUG 12-17, 2025
LONDON TICKETS HERE
EDINBURGH TICKETS HERE
Now starring 23-year-old American actress Clarissa Adele, Pretty, Witty Nell returns to the venue where it made its acclaimed UK premiere in 2023. The 55-minute one-woman show, performed entirely in rhyming iambic pentameter, tells the true story of Nell Gwynne—17th-century actress, royal mistress, and folk hero—with wit, tragedy, and poetic flair.
PRETTY, WITTY NELL®
An original one-woman tragicomic history, written entirely in rhyming iambic verse, Pretty, Witty Nell® tells the true story of Nell Gwynne, the famous actress/prostitute, and mistress of the wild British monarch, King Charles II.
Smith’s 7th verse play, Pretty, Witty Nell® was premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2019, where it received nothing but glowing reviews from critics and audience members alike; and was nominated for the coveted Hollywood Fringe International Award, which Smith/Rogue Shakespeare® won twice previously in 2015 & 2016.
The show subsequently toured professionally to theatres in London, Eastbourne, New York, Brighton and St. Albans, gathering glowing reviews and accolades, and winning an OFFIE Award, along the way.
PRETTY, WITTY NELL® – 2025
We are delighted to announce that the precociously talented Clarissa Adele will be taking over the role in 2025 and making her debut as ‘Nell’ at Barons Court Theatre, London – July 22-26.
Clarissa Adele as ‘Nell’ (photo: Valentina Villa)
EDINBURGH – AUGUST 2025!
Following her debut in London, Clarissa Adele will perform the show at the Bedlam Theatre as part of the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe – August 12-17.
EDINBURGH TICKETS HERE
2019 World Premiere – Pretty, Witty Nell®
Starring Melanie Johnson, Pretty, Witty Nell® was premiered at the Hollywood Fringe in June 2019, where it delighted audiences and reviewers – receiving standing ovations – watch the promo video below for a quick taste.
It was also nominated for the Hollywood Fringe International Award – the award which Smith won twice previously in 2015 & 2016 with his verse plays, Love Labours Won and MacDeth! respectively.
“A standout solo show – PERFECT!”
– Broadway World
Melanie Johnson as Nell Gwynne in Smith’s PRETTY, WITTY NELL®
Pretty, Witty Beginnings!
Much like Nell Gwynne herself, Smith’s one-woman tragicomedy had an unorthodox start to life. Originally written in 2017 as the one-woman show we now know and love, Smith subsequently adapted the play into a two-hander farce – and he and his leading lady performed this version the first week of Fringe – before Smith, preferring the original, decided to “fire himself from the stage” and revert back to the one-woman script. It was an incredible challenge for both the playwright/director, and the leading lady herself – one they both rose to. Several reviewers alluded to Smith’s bravery in doing this:
Ryan J-W Smith and his pal, 7-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner, promote Smith’s PRETTY, WITTY NELL® at a red carpet event in LA
In May, 2019, Broadway World announced Smith’s latest world premiere:
Melanie Johnson as Nell Gwynne in Smith’s PRETTY, WITTY NELL®
Pretty, Witty Nell® 2023-24 – UK Premiere etc.
We’re flattered to say Pretty, Witty Nell® received some beautiful reviews during it’s short-runs in London (2023) and Brighton (2024). Two reviewers were even inspired to write their reviews in verse! 🫶
★★★★★
“Smith‘s writing is exquisite. It’s clever and funny in equal measures and the whole play is written entirely in rhyming iambic pentameter. Of course the rhythm and rhyme were present throughout but they did not take over the piece and at times you barely noticed it was there.
Although obviously written and presented in a Shakespearean style, this piece is accessible to all audiences. You don’t need to be a fan of Shakespeare to enjoy this play!
Simply put this play is a work of genius.
Genius writing, genius direction and genius acting.”
“…not only does Smith succeed in this, but he does so with a style which makes the story engrossing from start to finish. Fifty-five minutes of poetry is delivered without a single dull moment. None of it rhyming for the sake of rhyming or fitting the metre for the sake of fitting the metre. Every word, every line painstakingly considered and, therefore, worthy of tremendous praise. I was fortunate to have been given a copy of the text and, having read it several times now, can only marvel at his craft.”
“It’s modern, enjoyable Shakespeare; with comedy and tragedy – the lot. The rhyming verse, it pleases the ear. And all a true story, with quite the plot!“
★★★★
“funny, sharp witted and brutally honest… an extremely strong performance… one to watch”
– Broadway Baby
★★★★
“Reenacted intricately and with flair
By this gentle wench, who knows the affair”
★★★★
“This is impressive – there is a lot of pleasure to be had in this kind of pastiche”
“Pretty, Witty Nell is a truly memorable production, a triumph.”
Broadway World preview of Pretty, Witty Nell – June 7, 2023
★★★★
“Smith’s objective in his Rogue Shakespeare company seems to be to revive the rhythm and richness of language achieved through the Bard’s iambic corpus; and the writing here definitely carries a similar spirit, though on the whole it’s much simpler and easier to understand, without the cryptic flights of fancy and lost usage.
It’s a noble project and breathes new life into a kind of versification that is often needlessly assumed to be the preserve of one playwright.”
– The Reviews Hub
NEW WORLD ORDER
Nominated for an Amnesty International Award 2008
New World Order, Smith’s only one-man verse play, performed, directed and produced by Smith, was nominated for The Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award 2008 and received nothing but glowing 4 and 5-star reviews when Smith debuted it at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at The Gilded Balloon.
★★★★★
“One piece that is really essential to see is Ryan J-W Smith’s New World Order”
★★★★
“Performed immaculately…it should be missed by no one”
★★★★
“sharply scripted in verse…
Smith’s honest, gritty delivery”
★★★★★
“one man epic…Smith gives an extremely powerful performance”
★★★★
“Smith has written an incredible play here…
a compelling, challenging piece of theatre”
★★★★
“Fringe acclaimed over the last two years, Smith returns with a much more bitter pill…
stunning and convincingly delivered”
Smith subsequently toured the show to Los Angeles, CA, before touring it to Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia. In Brisbane, Smith was invited to perform the show at the prestigious Judith Wright Centre, with dignitaries in the audience such as the Mayor of Brisbane.
“Few performances I’ve seen have been as gripping, touching and perceptive as New World Order
Transitions between the three characters are so smooth it’s easy to forget there is only one person on stage. Adept use of physicality and vocal nuances mark each character and compliment the depth of the text. Suspending disbelief is an almost unconscious act from start to finish.“
The Poet Cursed
Selected for the Cannes Film Festival, Court Metrage
In 2010, Smith moved into film production producing 4 festival-winning short films that year.
In 2012, Ryan then wrote, directed, produced and starred in his 5th short film, The Poet Cursed, scripted entirely in rhyming iambic verse.
It was premiered in the short film corner at the 65th Cannes Film Festival and was selected for 6 other international film festivals.
LOVE LABOURS WON 2015
Winner of 2 Hollywood Fringe Awards
Written by Smith in 2005, and first performed in 2006 by Rogue Shakespeare®, Smith’s 3rd verse play, Love Labours Won has delighted thousands of audience members. Accolades include two Pick of the Fringe (Edinburgh) selections and winning the Hollywood Fringe Festival’s highly coveted International Award (2015), as well as an Encore! Producers’ Award (2015). As you will see below, it has had countless 4 and 5 star reviews.
Ryan J-W Smith receiving The International Award at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Awards Ceremony (photo: Matt Kamimura)
The delighted cast of the award-winning 2015 Hollywood revival of Smith’s Love Labours Won. (Left to right) Molly Dougherty, James Hansen, Cameran Surles, Ryan J-W Smith, Stephen Howell, Carol Vandegrift, Johnathan Berenson.
Love Labours Won
(Hollywood Version)
VERY RARE – LIMITED EDITION PAPERBACK!
published in 2015 – the Hollywood Fringe script!
(LLW has since been updated by the author)
“an original, comedic Shakespearean pastiche written entirely in rhyming iambic verse by acclaimed British playwright, Ryan J-W Smith. Love Labours Won is one of the most acclaimed plays ever to come out of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.”
“…a thrill hearing Smith’s verse, a reminder that the old forms still hold up under new hands. A good time, to be sure.”
Audience Reviews – Hollywood Fringe 2015
LOVE LABOURS WON 2007
‘PICK OF THE FRINGE’ – 2007
Spring-boarding from his success with the world premiere in 2006, Smith’s all-female version of his Love Labours Won was a critically-acclaimed box office hit at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007.
★★★★★
“I don’t make a practice of going to see a Fringe show two years running. Was it worth sacrificing one of my slots? It was.
…a damned good romp”
★★★★★
“A corker of a production!
With the fiercely talent Smith at the helm, expect to hear loads about this company in the future.”
★★★★
“Smith – master of the iambic pentameter, cleverly matches Shakespeare at his own game”
The late and dearly missed Jade Allen as Caesus, Emma Canalese as Annabelle and Victoria Porter as Edmund in the critically-acclaimed all-female revival of Love Labours Won, in the Gilded Balloon Debating Hall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007.
The very long line-up of over 220 audience members waiting to see Smith’s Love Labours Won on August 4th, 2007
Two cast members, Emily Lawrence and Clare Harlow, showcase Love Labours Won to a packed crowd at Fringe Sunday, Edinburgh, 2007.
★★★★
“still excellent…
Smith has done an astonishing job…
Shakespeare would thoroughly approve of this company’s skill and vaulting ambition”
★★★★
“Smith is to my point of view far better than anything that came out of Stratford. It’s easy to see why is was so critically acclaimed last year.”
The director celebrating with his critically-acclaimed all-female cast of his Love Labours Won, Edinburgh, August 27th, 2007
(From left to right) Emma Canalese, Victoria Porter, the late Jade Allen, Emily Lawrence, Clare Harlow, Caitlin Shannon, Elizabeth Arends, Ryan J-W Smith.
Fringe Promoter of the Year 2007 – Ryan J-W Smith
LOVE LABOURS WON 2006
‘PICK OF THE FRINGE’ – 2006
In 2005, Smith was commissioned by the Arts Council England to write his 3rd verse play, Love Labours Won. He subsequently produced the world premiere in 2006 at the Edinburgh Fringe, which became another of Smith’s critically-acclaimed box office hits.
The original cast of the world premiere of Smith’s Love Labours Won, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2006
★★★★★
“the best Shakespearean comedy not written by Shakespeare – this is unmissable!”
★★★★★
“Go see it and watch great theatre in action.”
★★★★
“there are not many Fringe productions pulling the size of audience this is’”
★★★★
“Smith is one to watch”
★★★★
“a mesmerizing work from a young writer whose career we should follow very closely”
“The brilliant wit of Ryan J-W Smith”
★★★★
“This Shakespearean-style verse comedy is pacy and well performed”
“brilliantly pacy, well-balanced and intriguing… bravo Ryan!”
SWEET LOVE ADIEU (version I)
Smith wrote his first verse play, Sweet Love Adieu, whilst studying for his BA in Theatre Studies at Trinity College, Dublin, back in 1999. After graduating, Smith formed Rogue Shakespeare® and produced the world premiere in 2001 at the open-air Roman Amphitheatre in St. Albans, England. Since then Sweet Love Adieu has been produced many times internationally, by various companies, including at the Edinburgh Fringe; in New Jersey; North Carolina; Cleveland, and off-Broadway in Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York.
The world premiere of Sweet Love Adieu (v.1) took place at the Roman Amphitheatre in St. Albans, England in 2001.
“There IS culture…highly accomplished…
this play’s a comic delight!”
★★★★
“Farcical, bawdy, a treat! A great piece of entertainment”
“an Oscar Wilde twist to the basic Romeo and Juliet plot… keeping the comedy high… played with deliciously sharp-edged tongues…
Great fun.”
★★★★★
“Definitely Shakespeare for a modern audience”
★★★★
“Takes one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies and turns it into an hilarious comedy”
“Methinks it’s a treat!”
Smith backstage as ‘William’ in his Sweet Love Adieu in 2001
Sweet Love Adieu open-air in Hoboken, NJ with NYC skyline, 2005.
Sweet Love Adieu was also performed at Whitby Abbey, in Yorkshire England in 2003, thanks to a grant from Arts Council England.
Gray Hawks as William and Courtney Wright as Anne in Sweet Love Adieu, Wilmington, NC, 2005.
BBC Radio
Ryan has appeared almost countless times on BBC radio over the years – here’s just one example from way back in 2003.
Ryan J-W Smith on BBC Radio Leeds (2003)
Buy the book!
COLLECTOR’S ITEM!
Buy the limited edition (2nd edition) of Sweet Love Adieu (version 1) here:
Sweet Love Adieu (version 1)
ROMEO & JULIET IT AIN’T!
or ‘Sweet Love Adieu (version II)’
Nominated for a Hollywood Fringe Award 2016
In 2016, Smith completely re-wrote his first verse play into an electrifying new version – “a bawdy, saucy, filthy farce in five outrageous acts” – which Rogue Shakespeare® premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival that year.
Romeo & Juliet it Ain’t! was nominated for the International Award (won that year by Smith’s other contender, MacDeth!). And, as you can see from the reviews, this new version also delighted critics and audiences alike.
Lance Frantzich as Magistrate and Ryan J-W Smith as Sidney in Smith’s ‘Romeo & Juliet it Ain’t!’ (aka ‘Sweet Love Adieu (version II)’)
“a non-stop, hilarious, irreverent (if not fully raunchy) parody… a loving tribute to the Bard of Avon, from Smith – a bard in his own right… GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!”
“The pain that this play causes results from laughter”
“Smith plates out another wordtastic dish for the educated masses and hits the mark once more…GO SEE THIS!!!”
“The best show we have been to at the Fringe, and is sure to be a winner in whatever categories it is entered in. I highly recommend it, just wonderful!”
“simply delightful. It’s one of the funniest stage plays I’ve seen.”
“A Writer-Director-Actor is a TRIPLE threat but RYAN J-W SMITH has TWO shows running in rep, so that makes him a SEXTUPLE threat – with the emphasis on Sex (and free chocolate)! Conversational Iambic Pentameter takes some getting used to, but once you’re in the game – from the moment the 8 players greet you before the show starts – it seems as natural as the unnatural things they do!
Shakespearean Satire is tricky, but this trouple pulls it off with elan, thanks to a sound script that seems like something Will might have WISHED he’d thought of himself.”
“Smart, funny, bawdy, awesome! The creator of my personal favorite show from HFF 15 does it again – there is so much comedic brilliance in the writing and in the performances. My words fail me, Ryan J-W Smith’s never do. Go if you possibly can!”
MACDETH!
Winner of 2 Hollywood Fringe Awards 2016
Another original Smith verse comedy written entirely in rhyming iambic pentameter.
Imagine Monty Python trying to perform MacBeth and you have an idea of what you can expect from Smith’s award-winning riot, MacDeth! Premiered at the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival by Rogue Shakespeare® it played to completely sold-out houses and won Smith another Hollywood Fringe International Award and an Encore! Producers’ Award – along with a nomination for the Hollywood Fringe Comedy Award – all with heaps of acclaim from fans and professional critics alike.
“SHOWS TO SEE – MACDETH!.. lighten up the classic study in evil with a touch of Monty Python”
“Fringe award-winner Ryan J-W Smith, no stranger to the words of the Bard, offers up an abbreviated version of the the Scottish Play that races along at lightning speed, peppered with comedic asides and modern references.”
“The reinventions keep coming… from the iconoclastic British writer and poet, Ryan J-W Smith”
GOLD AWARD – “Ryan J-W Smith’s painfully clever, pugnaciously subversive, and decidedly funny sendoff of Shakespeare’s Scottish play”
Broadway World announced Rogue Shakespeare’s return:
“MacDeth! is a clever and hilarious Monty Pythonesq send up of The Great Bard’s classic tale of ‘MacBeth’. The script, written by Ryan J-W Smith in rhyming Shakespearean-style verse, is nothing short of brilliant.
Writer and director, Smith’s turn as MacDeth exhibits an obviously accomplished actor of impeccable comedic timing and presence, boldly leading his ensemble to the promised land – a full house and standing ovation.”
“WHAT TO SEE FOR SURE – MACDETH! – a wild comedy of errors”
“THE CLASSICS – British playwright/poet, Ryan J-W Smith, who garnered two awards (including the International Award) at Hollywood Fringe 2015, brings his Rogue Shakespeare theatre company back with two new Bard-esque farces, performed in two venues.”
“We saw MacDeth! Highly recommend this one-of-a-kind show!”
“MACDETH! is outrageous, clever, political, disgusting, hilarious! This show is a must see! It’s brilliant… Loved it!”
“EDITOR PICKS – MACDETH!”
“Shakespeare collides with Monty Python in Ryan J-W Smith’s award-winning raucous verse comedy.”
In 2024, Ryan J-W Smith extended and revived his multiple award-winning show, MacDeth! – playing 2 nights at the open air Roman Theatre in St. Albans, England to great critical and audience acclaim.
“Smith has actually rewritten MacBeth in his own outstanding verse… I really respected the adaptation and can honestly say I have never come across such a talented living poet-playwright as Ryan J-W Smith.”
– St. Albans Times
St. Albans Times issue 73