If, like us, you’ve been swept up in the girl power energy of the Lionesses’ epic win, then you’re definitely going to love the vibe of multi-award-winning West End show & Juliet, which retells the classic William Shakespeare tragedy Romeo & Juliet with a female lens – and is blinking brilliant!
Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read wrote the book for the musical, exploring what would happen if Juliet didn’t die at the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, but instead went on to live her best life after discovering Romeo was a major player. Even more excitingly, the action is cleverly set to Number One hits from the 90s and 00s, so think of your favourite pop bangers like Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl, Britney’s …Baby One More Time, and Backstreet Boys’ As Long As You Love Me.
Shakespeare’s wife, the funny and smart Anne Hathaway (yes, really!), is fed up with being side-lined by her workaholic husband, so decides to write an alternate, more empowering ending to his play – in which she hilariously gives herself the role of April, Juliet’s BF. In Anne’s (Cassidy Janson) version of events, April, Juliet (Miriam-Teak Lee), her nurse Angelique (Malinda Parris) and best friend May (Alex Thomas-Smith) head off on a road trip to Paris for some serious fun and amour.
Once they arrive in the French capital they go clubbing and have the time of their lives, dancing the night away and making new connections. While we won’t spoil it for you, let’s just say, Juliet winds up with a guy called Francois (Tim Mahendran), who is on his own journey of self-discovery, and “it’s complicated”.
At its core, this feel-good play is all about being true to yourself, following your heart, and writing your own story, but is also really, really funny. A special shout out goes to Francois’ randy dad Lance (Julius D’Silva) who, after getting over the shock of encountering his old flame, goes all out to win her back and rekindle their romance.
Throughout the show, straight-talking Anne dishes out some great pearls of wisdom, so we thought who better to give us some relationship and life advice? But when the heat was on and we put Anne to the test, how would she get on with some everyday dilemmas? Time to find out.
Umm, she’s actually really good at this! While we go and negotiate with her agent William to see if she’ll become heat’s new agony aunt, make sure you check her and the rest of the & Juliet crew out at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. Trust us when we say you’ll laugh, you’ll feel inspired, you’ll get emosh and you’ll want to get up and dance! Basically, it’s the perfect night out.
& Juliet, now playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre , London. Book now at https://www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk/