REVIEW: JULIET & ROMEO @ THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH

🎭 Juliet & Romeo

📍  The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2TR

🗓 Tuesday 30th September 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

FUNNY AND EVOCATIVE

This show is wonderful on so many levels. A masterful meld of a warm, oh so human tale superbly acted with expressive choreography that reels its audience in with laughter and holds them there with shared experience.

Turns out the world’s tragic, star-crossed lovers survived and eloped, somewhat ironically, to Paris. Young, though perhaps not unlawfully so, and inexperienced they stumble their way through the early days of the marriage discovering each other.

Jump forwards 20 years and our couple are struggling and have come to counselling. We, their audience, are their counsellors. They sit, not quite together, in tub armchairs, divided by a large pot plant and an awkward disagreement about exactly how much sharing each is comfortable with. Anyone who has endured the gruelling process of Couples Therapy would never believe it to be laugh out loud funny, they would be so wrong.

We listen intently as they begin. Romeo, John Kendall, haltingly starts his memory of how they met only to be corrected by Juliet, Emily Terndrup, whose memories are supercharged with emotion and peppered with Shakespeare’s beautiful words. She asks a recalcitrant Romeo to re-enact their initial meeting with increasing passion and energy until it morphs into a difficult disjointed pas de deux to Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights. Whilst certainly not the expected music for a tender love scene it matches brilliantly to the gauche naivety of the teenage lovers.

Their relationship plays out in front of us. From everyday annoyances that start to undermine this idyllic love to tragic loss, rekindling love, childcare and depression. Real life grates and grinds them down and we find ourselves laughing along whilst an undercurrent of relatable discomfort niggles at us. I would imagine that every audience member has encountered several of the feelings so eloquently portrayed by our couple. John Kendall has me chuckling with just a look and the comedy threads its way through the whole by words and choreography. I do love a show that assumes it has an intelligent audience.

Artistic Director Ben Duke does not miss a beat between the witty dialogue and seamless weaving in of the dance sequences, no awkward pauses, no explanations needed, the narrative flows effortlessly. The thoughtful use of music, classical and contemporary, illuminates our lovers’ journey. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of a torrid, clumsy, extremely physical sexy dance against the whimsical quiet of Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence and a hilarious semi slapstick piece between Juliet and Romeo set to the soulful Kissing You by Des’ree is not only a million miles away from the DiCaprio/ Danes movie version but almost painfully comedic.

As their relationship crumbles in front of our eyes and our actors’ incredible skills ramp up a notch, the lighting and feel of the show becomes more sombre and introspective. Romeo finally taps into his emotions in his relationship with daughter, Sophie, and it is to her that he pours out Shakespeare’s timeless words of love. The music is used to break our hearts too. There is a small moment of hope as our disaffected couple dance to Ain’t No Mountain High Enough seemingly revisiting the love they share. Real life is a powerful antidote to romantic idealism, however. As our no longer young lovers stand apart from one another we are left wondering if their story is a tragedy after all.

This show is so powerful, Lost Dog Dance have once again created a tour de force. Evocative, smart, endearingly human and, in my opinion, unmissable.

JULIET & ROMEO is playing in the Drum at Theatre Royal Plymouth until Saturday 4th October. Click here to book tickets.

Rosie Sharman-Ward

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Juliet & Romeo was gifted by Theatre Royal Plymouth who invited me to watch the show on behalf of Pink Prince Theatre in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Emily Ternstrup as Juliet; John Kendall as Romeo

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 10 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Contains references and descriptions of violence and suicide; References to pregnancy and childbirth. Occasional instances of swearing and sexual references.

AGE GUIDELINE:

13 +

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