Our Winter season is always jam-packed with variety, giving audiences the opportunity to enjoy both classics and something a little more unexpected. Juliet & Romeo bridges those two worlds in an exciting blend of dance, theatre and comedy that reveals the story of Romeo and Juliet if they had not met their tragic fates.

Lost Dog director Ben Duke, who conceived and directs this piece, shares his thoughts on bringing this humorous and heartfelt duet about love, loss and longevity to the stage.

Is this the story of what might have happened had Romeo and Juliet lived? 

Yes. When I watch Romeo and Juliet I am always hoping that their timings will be a little different and Juliet will wake up a few moments earlier. I know she never will but I can’t help hoping for it. The idea for this piece came from allowing myself to imagine that alternate version. In this work they’ve been together about 25 years. 

Are they happy and how do they feel about each other? 

At the point that this piece is set they are in something of a marital crisis. Basically, they love each other and sometimes they wish the other one were dead. The bloom of teenage romance has faded but it haunts them. 

What inspired you to make it?

A feeling that we aren’t that honest about relationships in our culture and that too many stories focus on how relationships start rather than how they continue. 

Can you describe their characters?

Romeo is in the middle of a mid-life crisis and so his character is trying to re-shape itself. He is trying to let go of the passionate, over the top teenager he was and become a man. But he doesn’t have any clear idea what that man should look like so he is in limbo. Juliet is very attached to the extraordinary teenager she was and is finding the ordinariness of her current life a struggle. 

Will the audience like them? 

At times - if you had them round for dinner you would probably find them a little self-obsessed! 

And what do you hope audiences will take away with them after seeing the work? 

A sense of realistic optimism about the state of their relationships - past, present or future.

Juliet & Romeo plays in the Minerva from 5 - 7 November. Book your tickets on the show page.