& Juliet, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

& Juliet, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

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Posted 2024-10-08 by dpmfollow

Mon 07 Oct 2024 - Sat 12 Oct 2024


The Olivier-Award winning musical & Juliet was a huge hit in the West End and is now on its first UK tour, currently at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.

It’s easy to see why the show has been so successful - it has a clever plot with lots of humour but also a strong message running throughout, the characters are fully fleshed out, its storyline is hugely relevant to today’s audiences and it is wall-to-wall with much-loved pop songs by Max Martin and friends.



The story begins with William Shakespeare, played by Matt Cardle, completing his great tragedy Romeo and Juliet. But when Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway, played by Lara Denning, shows up on a rare night out she refuses to accept the suicide of Juliet – instead insisting her husband do a re-write in the heroine survives.

And so we embark on a coming-of-age tale in which Juliet, her friends and her nurse head off to Paris where they discover there is definitely life after Romeo.

Written by David West Read, it’s a punchy tale which explores issues around sexual identity, the choices of parents versus those of their children, self-determination and feminism. But while this all may sound pretty meaty, it’s presented in a fun-packed musical full of humour and some wonderful characters.

Gerardine Sacdalan is a feisty Juliet, determined to stand up to her parents and her circumstances but initially unsure whether her future lies in rebounding straight into another relationship or taking a bit of time to decide what matters to her.

Sacdalan can also belt out a tune - not least with the triumphant performance of the Katy Perry song Roar.

Matt Cardle gives us a Shakespeare full of humour but also a man balancing the needs of earning a living with his responsibilities as a husband and father. His relationship with Anne Hathaway brings another level to the show as we see mature love played alongside budding romances.

Lara Denning is a fully rounded Anne – much more than the woman with a nice cottage who inherits Shakespeare’s second-best bed. Here is a woman stepping out from the shadows and asking her husband, and us, to consider the reality of being left at home with the children while your husband is living it up in the playhouses of London.

Ranj Singh, better known to many as television’s Dr Ranj, gives a great comic turn as the French nobleman Lance, prancing around the stage with his French accent and Fleur-de-Lys codpiece. And Sandra Marvin takes Shakespeare’s comic nurse and gives her plenty of colour as Angelique.

The Martin hits keep coming, in fact, I’m not sure the team could have fitted any more tracks into the musical, with Larger Than Life, I Want it That Way, …Baby One More Time, Confident, Love Me Like You Do, As Long as You Love Me and Oops!...I Did It Again taking on new meaning from their contexts.



Initially directed by Luke Sheppard, the show never takes a wrong move, constantly surprising and delighting. Jennifer Weber’s choreography fills the stage with movement, bringing the 16th century very much into the present day.

Soutra Gilmour’s set designs are colourful and intricate with video design by Andrzeg Goulding bringing the bright lights of Paris to the stage. Paloma Young’s costumes are also hugely imaginative, picking up elements of the Elizabethan stage but bringing them bang into the present day.

& Juliet is a musical to throw yourself into, it’s packed with laughs, has some wonderful characters and a hugely enjoyable but also thought-provoking plotline. Catch it while you can at Wolverhampton and then go again when it comes to Birmingham next year.

& Juliet plays Wolverhampton Grand until Oct 12 here and Birmingham Hippodrome April 22-May 3 (Birmingham cast yet to be confirmed) here.

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%wnbirmingham

295362 - 2024-10-08 07:45:30

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