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Matthew Bourne’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ in cinemas nationwide on 22 October

Romeo and Juliet
More2Screen has announced that New Adventures’ stunning new 5-star production of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet will be screened in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Tuesday 22 October.

‘One of Bourne’s smartest, sexiest, most stirring shows ever’
★★★★★ Daily Telegraph
‘A seismic youthquake. A Romeo and Juliet for the millennial generation’
★★★★★ The Stage
‘Your jaw will drop, there are moments so stunning that you might just forget to breathe’
★★★★★ Broadwayworld

Matthew Bourne commented: ‘I’m thrilled that New Adventures’ brand-new production of Romeo and Juliet will be in cinemas across the UK from 22 October. We have been overwhelmed by the fantastic response to the work during our tour and felt we couldn’t miss this opportunity to share it with as many people as possible across the UK and around the world. This timeless story of forbidden love, repressed emotions and teenage discovery is no better told than by the young, and I have been refreshed and inspired by what this team of young dancers and artists have brought to Shakespeare’s classic tale of tragic conflict and young love.’

This passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic story of love and conflict is set in the not-too-distant future in ‘The Verona Institute’.  Here ‘difficult’ young people are mysteriously confined by a society that seeks to divide and crush their youthful spirit and individuality. The two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together. Filmed live at Sadler’s Wells in London especially for cinemas, Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet stars Cordelia Braithwaite as Juliet, Paris Fitzpatrick as Romeo, Dan Wright as Tybalt and Ben Brown as Mercutio.

‘Paris Fitzpatrick is a wonderful Romeo, tender-hearted and heartbreakingly out of his depth. Cordelia Braithwaite is a beautiful and doomed Juliet, a young woman who moves with a fleet grace and a sense of unhinged desperation.’ ★★★★ The Times

Bursting with youth, vitality and Matthew Bourne’s trademark storytelling, the UK’s brightest young dance talent join the New Adventures company, with direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne, design by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Paul Groothuis and new orchestrations of the Prokofiev score by Terry Davies, played live by the New Adventures Orchestra conducted by Brett Morris.

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet is directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon and produced by Illuminations.  It is being screened in cinemas worldwide by More2Screen, a leading Event Cinema distributor based in London.

This cinema release would not have been possible without the support of the following partners: New Adventures, Arts Council England, Bradford Theatres, Birmingham Hippodrome, Curve Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Mayflower Theatre.

For more information and to book cinema tickets visit: RomeoAndJulietInCinemas.com

#RomeoandJulietCinema

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Liverpool Everyman, Director Nick Bagnall: “I had a woman sharply point at me and decry: ‘There’s no room for rock and roll in Shakespeare’”

Nick Bagnall

Nick Bagnall

We are all familiar with Romeo and Juliet. The Everyman Company and actors from Liverpool’s Young Everyman Playhouse are uniting to celebrate Shakespeare’s brutal tale of love and family. Director, Nick Bagnall has come out of rehearsals and is in a buoyant mood. “Rehearsals are going fantastically well. I’ve done a big edit of the play and made bold decisions with the casting,” he says. “Time is short, so I’m filling the production with ensemble and song.”

George Caple and Elliot Kingsley play the star-crossed lovers, in a conceptual reimagining involving a gender switch of Romeo and Julius. There has been a lot of gender-blind casting in Shakespeare over the past year or so – Tamsin Greig played Malvolia at the National, The all-female trilogy at the Donmar; Glenda Jackson’s King Lear  at the Old Vic and many more. This contemporary view of the play will be applied to Bagnall’s fast paced production where bloodshed on the streets and arranged marriage are common place.

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo & Juliet

Is Bagnall prepared for backlash from traditionalists? “I’m never surprised by the purists. They always say something that is slightly rigid. Ultimately, when I’m making work I like to be anarchic and playful,” he says defiantly. “The young people who are in the company – of which there are over forty – are incredible and they are blown away by the gender swap. It’s rather beautiful and its given it a vitality that I really hoped it would. I relocated Shakespeare to the swinging 60’s in my recent production of Two Gentlemen of Verona at The Globe,” he laughs. “I had a woman sharply point at me and decry: ‘There’s no room for rock and roll in Shakespeare’ – I’m totally prepared for backlash!”

What is fantastic about this production is that it is made with and for young people. The Liverpool Everyman’s children, and young people are at the heart of the show’s process. “Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) are the best youth theatre in the land”, he says. “They are an incredible bunch of young people. I have to say that, for them, just being in a room with professional actors, it’s very clear how much they are learning; they bring a unique energy to proceedings. My biggest aim with this is about demystifying Shakespeare for young people and to create something that they can relate to when it comes to living in Liverpool in 2017.”

We’ve all seen the story of Juliet and Romeo test the patience of audiences more than perhaps any other Shakespeare play. So why is Bagnall’s any different, why should we come along? “Because its open-hearted, sexy and vital storytelling,” he says. “I have a fantastic cast and an electric bunch of young people. It’s rock and roll… Oh and there’s even a bit of Indian dub-step.”

Romeo and Juliet runs Saturday 27 May to Wednesday 7 June at Liverpool Everyman

Rehearsal images Gallery below. Photographs by Brian Roberts

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