Terry Gilliam's Brazil , which Stoppard co-wrote, has the same disorienting effect. Theater politics are getting in the way. Sure, it's probably historically inaccurate. But since no one's life is shrouded in more mystery than the Immortal Bard's, there's certainly room for speculation. From all accounts, Shakespeare in Love promises to bristle with the same cleverness and energy as Stoppard's other endeavors.
Boatmen speak New York cabbie lingo.
Characters quip on Shakespearean dialogue. Every line packs a punch. What makes Stoppard a genius and not simply another funny wordsmith, though, is that the humor is never shallow or artificial. It always serves another purpose, there's always something behind it, and it always tells us more than we expect it to. Shakespeare in Love, for instance, has as much to say about 1590s theater as it does about 1990s theater.