Romeo and Juliet (2021)

17 June – 24 July

by William Shakespeare

Kimberley Sykes directed Shakespeare's timeless story of two young people torn apart by a divided society and forbidden love. The production was the first to return to the Open Air Theatre stage from the postponed 2020 season. This production was supported by Arts Council England and DCMS through the Culture Recovery Fund.

The cast

Isabel Adomakoh Young

Juliet

Aretha Ayeh

Benvolia

Ellie Beaven

Lady Capulet

Cavan Clarke

Mercutio

Tom Claxton

Peter

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Emma Cunniffe

Nurse

Peter Hamilton Dyer

Friar Lawrence

Ryan Ellsworth

Lord Montague

Michelle Fox

Tybalt

Andrew French

Lord Capulet

Sarah Hoare

Gregora/Apothacary

Irvine Iqbal

Prince Escalus

Richard Leeming

Paris

Joel MacCormack

Romeo

Priyank Morjaria

Sampson

Louise Mai Newberry

Lady Montague

Shadee Yaghoubi

Abra

Marc Zayat

Balthasar

Creative team

Ciaran Bagnall

Lighting Designer

Christian Bravo

Sound Associate

Stuart Burt CDG

Casting Director

Naomi Dawson

Designer

Catja Hamilton

Lighting Associate

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Barbara Houseman

Season Associate Director/Voice & Text Director

Fiona Kennedy

Voice Associate

Ingrid Mackinnon

Movement Director

Kev McCurdy

Fight Director

Darcel Osei

Movement Associate

Jon Pashley

Associate Director

Annelie Powell CDG

Casting Director

Kimberley Sykes

Director

Giles Thomas

Composer & Sound Designer

Nic Wass

Dramaturg

Reviews

WhatsOnStage

Kimberley Sykes’s SIZZLING new production…a version that gets to the bruised heart of Shakespeare’s text with a refreshing urgency and vitality. THRILLING

Time Out

BREATHLESS and JOYFUL…this irresistibly giddy Romeo & Juliet surges with young lust

Daily Telegraph

Joel MacCormack and Isabel Adomakoh Young play our modern star-crossed lovers, big-booted and with bags of attitude. And take a bow Cavan Clarke, compellingly freewheeling as Mercutio.

The Stage

Performed with youthful energy, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre aims straight at the heart. The vision is an arresting one and it’s a huge pleasure to see an ensemble, particularly one with a commitment to gender balance, at work again.

Daily Mail

An exceptional young talent has arrived in the shape of Isabel Adomakoh Young as Juliet. She has the spellbinding ability to switch between conflicting thoughts and maintain a strong sense of purpose and passion in her character. A Juliet to remember.

The Times

Joel MacCormack’s Romeo delivers the verse with graceful authority, while Aretha Ayeh’s Benvolia wins our sympathy as she tries to calm the factions.

TheatreVibe

The Capulets’ masked ball is a socially distanced, visual masterpiece. Bravo to the Open Air for bringing theatre back with elegant and meaningful style.

Afridiziak

AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER - definitely something you should see. The blind casting helps push the Shakespearean classic into to a new era. There is something significant in seeing yourself and your friends represented on stage.

The Guardian

Cavan Clarke’s Mercutio steals the spotlight in an entertaining production that foregrounds past trauma.

The Upcoming

Accessible, fast-paced and A MASTERPIECE in its own rite.

WhatsOnStage

The ferocity of the pace, plus the clarity of the storytelling, pleasingly inventive touches and unexpected gender-flipping of some principal characters, means this feels bracingly modern