This perennial favourite returns to Bankside with a young cast headed by Lola Shalam and Rawaed Asde as the ill-fated teenagers. It’s probably the best-known work of Shakespeare but, thanks to a trio of welcome touches from director Sean Holmes, it arrives on the Bankside somewhat refreshed.

The first major change is the setting. Goodbye Italy, hello the frontier town of Verona. The set is sturdy and simple enough, with all the action happening in front of the wooden façade of a saloon. Holmes already has form when it comes to this kind of thing: he recently co-directed Cowbois, a gloriously fun queer Western which explored gender and sexuality. This doesn’t quite hit the heights of that production, but there are definite echoes in the way he defines the lovers’ characteristics – with Romeo showing a more tender side and Juliet having a muscular and masculine approach to her lines.

There’s an unspoken convention in theatre that the cast of US-set plays all have American accents (a convention which rarely applies so strictly to other foreign countries), but Holmes cheekily swerves this implicit requirement. That may irk the purists but means we get a humorous contrast between Asde’s dulcet London tones and Shalam’s rough-edged Essex swagger. Admittedly, this requires a certain suspension of disbelief (just how did so many Limeys end up in this one town?) but, then again, when was the last time we heard more authentic Italian accents for this play?

And talking of humour – dig out that corset – because there are plenty of side-busting moments, especially before the interval. Although it’s not generally well known for being a barrel of laughs (its full title is, after all, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet), this classic romance has had its laugh factor amped up significantly.

Often, it’s not what is said but how: Shalam’s Juliet is no shrinking violet but a stroppy, lovesick teen who has no shame about shouting back to all around her. The Nurse holds her end up through robust views to upper management (especially Juliet’s father) and lewd nudge-nudge-wink-wink asides to her charge; while Juliet prepares herself for a nocturnal meeting with Romeo, the Nurse tells her with a sarcastic smirk that “I am a drudge and toil in your delight / but you shall bear the burden soon at night.”

Of course, there comes a point when everything gets more serious, and Holmes handles that transition well. His fight scenes are on the noisy and chaotic side of things, and it can be hard to tell who is who. There’s also a nonsensical side, with a few of the cowboys literally bringing knives to a gunfight. The fatal tussles between Tybalt and Mercutio, and then Mercutio and Romeo, are well-staged and genuinely exciting – even if you know the outcome.

If the welcome dabs of overt comedy mark out this version before the interval, it is the same for death when we come back. Those already killed before we go for ice cream and stretch our legs (the Globe is a brilliant venue, but not the comfiest) return to the stage and take a seat at the back. When Joe Reynold’s Paris – played here more for laughs than anything else – meets his end, he asks to be placed next to Juliet. Romeo agrees, but as soon as his back is turned, Paris goes to sit with Tybalt and Mercutio. In her final moments, Juliet does not see the corpse of her lover but instead hallucinates him standing there and inviting her to the afterlife. With more rueful happiness in her voice than sadness, she runs onto a knife he holds out before collapsing to the ground.

Full credit has to go to Rawaed Asde for stepping up at short notice to play Romeo. Another actor was announced in the role as recently as 18 March, but after he was unable to be part of the production, due to unforeseen circumstances, Asde was promoted from his original part of Tybalt. Given the prominence of this production, it’s a huge opportunity for an actor who – like others in this cast – only graduated from drama school in the last couple of years. He frankly smashed it, as did Shalam opposite him.

Romeo and Juliet is playing at the Globe until 2nd August 2025.
Tickets from theatreticketsdirect.co.uk

Words Franco Milazzo
Photography Tristram Kenton