I always loved the creative writing aspect of English lessons at school. While my peers would groan at doing creative exercises, my eyes would pulsate open with excitement. English would have been my best subject if it wasn’t for one particular playwright, who caused me all sorts of difficulties. And I became fascinated with how bizarrely he – William Shakespeare – was taught to us teenagers; we sat in colourless classrooms, struggling to grasp the meaning of ancient Elizabethan plays that were as confusing as our French textbook.
The majority of class time studying the bard was spent translating his archaic language in a desperate attempt to prepare us for the looming exams ahead. At the time, I thought that reading Shakespeare’s work was a means to an end. However, after graduating from secondary school and revisiting his plays, I came to realise that there was so much more I could have gotten from them back then.
Shakespeare’s works offer timeless depictions of human emotions, such as love, friendship, betrayal, and grief. He wrote plays meant for both Elizabethan monarchs and peasants. He put his work before both the royal court and the Elizabethan working class. They were universally relatable to both a King and a commoner. Now, though, he’s become a writer for the snob, and a select group of literary elitists claim to be the only ones who can comprehend his perplexing language—slamming the door on modern young adults.
Teachers have a tough job of translating and supporting students who may feel discouraged or overwhelmed while grappling with Elizabethan dialogue during exam season. With the added pressure of limited time, this can be a daunting task for both teachers and students. But what if we boiled Shakespeare down to the core principles and said that he just writes relatable subjects in unrelatable language? See through the latter, and the former is a world ripe for understanding.
I wrote All That Glitters in part to better understand Shakespeare and bring him to life in a contemporary British coming-of-age story, while also contributing my voice as a young writer to tell an authentic story to the keen young adult audience who are smart enough to know when an impersonator is behind the work. A lot of existing stories in film and television are written by fully grown adults—which I like to think I am not—and do a poor job of conveying younger generations. There have been massive hit shows written by people in their thirties or forties that miss the mark on my generation, and no favours are done by casting thirty-year-olds!
In All That Glitters, the main protagonist, Ryan, is helped by the apparition of Shakespeare himself to land the role of Romeo in the school play and win over his Juliet. Often, teen drama at the age of sixteen can feel akin to a Shakespearean drama with themes of hatred, grief, backstabbing, unrequited love and romance. So, what better way to express that than with the bard himself appearing and mentoring our young protagonist?
Shakespeare’s timeless tales have, of course, previously been reimagined in modern retellings, such as 10 Things I Hate About You. These adaptations offer a great opportunity to delve into the universal themes that Shakespeare wrote about, but they can be easily missed if one is unaware that they are retellings. Despite being disguised as original stories, these adaptations provide an accessible entry point into the world of Shakespearean literature. In All That Glitters, I aimed to draw obvious parallels between the story of Romeo and Juliet and the love story of Ryan and Jasmine – who are two students from opposing social hierarchies in their school, instead of star-crossed lovers from two families in a feud.
I added Shakespeare as a mentor to help Ryan make these connections. Through this, Ryan learns to find confidence in connecting with Romeo beyond the outdated language and realises that the story, like all stories, if thematically understood can make you feel seen and heard.
In All That Glitters, we have cast young actors who are close to the actual age of the characters they will play. Together with me, as a 25-year-old, we will bring to life an authentically honest retelling of Shakespeare in the modern day – with no forced colloquial language that makes as much sense as Shakespeare does to the modern teenager!
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Peter is a talented up-and-coming screenwriter. With a degree in Practical Filmmaking from the MetFilm School London, his credits include multi-award-winning short film Tequila Dream (2021), Alone With You (2023), Punch Up (2023), and Pray, Music Video (2022). Peter is also a published author with his debut novel,The Dogs of Ellon (2023). Peter founded Clover Fox Films with friend Joe Andrews in 2024, which has recently announced its first feature film starring Paul Ready, All That Glitters.
Clover Fox Films is a narrative film production company founded by two friends, Peter and Joe. The duo met while studying at film school in London, and after collaborating on several projects and releasing their first award-winning short film, Tequila Dream, they moved on to setup Clover Fox Films; the pair share a passion for telling unique and compelling stories that focus on the real-life emotions of young adult life, including relationships, friendships, and the complexities of growing up. Clover Fox Films aims to disrupt the film industry by producing fresh, distinctive stories that captivate global audiences and tell stories that matter. The Clover Fox name is a nod to Peter’s Irish heritage and Joe’s distinguishing red hair.
