& Juliet – New Theatre, Oxford and Touring

Picture: Matt Crockett

& Juliet was reviewed at the New Theatre, Oxford. The tour continues until 28 June 2025.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

The show that proclaims ‘there is life after Romeo’ proves that there is life after the West End in this new touring production which brings a re-worked West End production to regional venues without losing any of the quirky qualities that make it such a crowd-pleaser.

Touring comes with its challenges of course – so Shakespeare (playfully portrayed by the excellent Matt Cardle who embodies how this version of the Bard is meant to be) does not rise from beneath the stage on his first entrance, the carriage is more rickshaw than gypsy caravan and the passing sights on the way to Paris do not revolve, but none of this really matters. The adjustments take nothing away from the original impact of the show and if you haven’t seen the original you will be none the wiser, so seamless is the adapted version.

Gerardine Sacdalan is a dynamic powerhouse as Juliet, owning the performance and transitioning from text to song lyrics without once dropping out of character; perfectly cast and so believable as the young Juliet but with a voice and acting skills that belie her recent graduation from drama school.

There are some other tough shoes to fill here too. Following on from Olivier Award-winning Cassidy Janson as Anne Hathaway, Lara Denning takes on the role of Will Shakespeare’s demoralised wife, embodying the challenge to take female empowerment to the next level and re-write her husband’s star-crossed lovers’ tragedy. And she does the power ballad, ‘That’s the Way It Is’ more than fair justice, resulting in the longest applause after a musical number on this particular evening.

Sandra Marvin and Ranj Singh make a brilliant double act as Angelique and Lance with Jordan Broatch beautifully capturing the delicate growth of self-confidence in May. Kyle Cox sensitively uncovers the confusion of François and his inner struggle to come to terms with his own sexuality and Jack Danson is the most delightful ‘pretty boy’ douchebag as Romeo, all inflated ego and low intelligence.

Featuring the music of songwriter Max Martin, this is such a feel-good show (directed by Luke Sheppard) and arguably one of the best jukebox musicals around. Jennifer Weber’s bold choreography is executed with gusto and the cast exudes high energy which is undoubtedly contagious. It’s worth catching this on tour if you can!

Julie Watterston