& Juliet Review – Shaftesbury Theatre
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard of the William Shakespeare tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Star crossed lovers who would rather be dead that face life without each other. A frankly unrealistic and unrelatable story in this day and age, but what if that’s not how it ended. What if Juliet got a second chance and upon seeing Romeo dead decides not to kill herself. & Juliet imagines an alternative tale where Juliet decides to leave Verona with her friends in search of new adventures.
& Juliet is told from the perspective of Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare. She decides it’s about time to remix her husband’s frankly outdated and bring it into the 21st century. With her bags packed and ready to escape Verona, Juliet recovers from heartbreak in the best possible way possible… by dancing the night away with her best friends by her side! But things take a surprising turn when an unlikely love triangle develops, and Romeo miraculously comes back to life. And it’s suddenly clear that Juliet must face her past to find her future.
& Juliet is a hilarious comedy littered with chart topping pop hits by Swedish producer and writer Max Martin. And as a 90s child I was in my element wanting to belt out some of my favourite songs alongside the cast. Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, and more dominate the show’s soundtrack. Keala Settle and Julius D’Silva, in the roles of Nurse and Lance, had me cracking up with their incredible rendition of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream. They had great chemistry and commanded the stage during all their scenes.
The show has some quite touching moments in the way they tackle the character of May’s struggles with identity and gender. Alex Thomas-Smith gave a beautiful rendition of Britney Spears Not A Girl Not Yet A Woman. I will say that for a show titled & Juliet, her character is sorely underserved at times. Her storyline could almost be removed and not make a great deal of a change to the production. This is not to say that Miriam-Teak Lee wasn’t great in the role, it was the writing that was the problem.
Overall, I thought & Juliet was an extremely entertaining production, and I would happily see it again. The cast were all tremendously talented and the soundtrack really hit the spot for me. The storyline was fun and playful and a unique play on the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. I’d love to know what Shakespeare would have to say about this adaptation of his story. Book your tickets for & Juliet The Musical now.
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Photo Credit: Johan Persson
