Wilton’s Music Hall, with its crumbling Victorian grandeur, was an interesting choice for a contemporary take on Romeo and Juliet. With its creaking boards and occasional atmospheric smog, the ancient tale was completely rediscovered as I watched Flabbergast Theatre’s production last week.
What is this production of Romeo and Juliet like?
Rather than depicting Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers as delicate and tragic, this abridged version took it to another level with humour, live music, choreographed clowning and masked characters, which brought a new lease of life to the familiar story of an ancient feud between families. The result? A highly physical portrayal of the passionate love affair, bringing Romeo and Juliet bang up to date.
Amalia Vitale played Juliet – presented as a defiant teenager with an iconic pixie cut, who is hungry for life, love and freedom, matched with Ludovic Hughes’s Romeo, who was a lean, mean dancing machine, plus a true romantic and a little bit geeky.
Around them, familiar characters are flamboyantly reimagined to complement the tale. Genevieve Sabherwal’s Mercutio is magnetic, irreverent, and mercurial – her Queen Mab speech a burst of fever-dream poetry and bitter humour, while her death at the hands of the volatile Tybalt (played with precision by Benjamin Cawley) is one of the show’s emotional peaks: stylised and ritualistic.
Flabbergasted founder, Maynard, doubled as a fearsome Lord Capulet, bringing authority to Juliet’s father—his confrontation with her in Act III is a masterclass in physical menace, played with a terrifying blend of control and violence. Meanwhile, the roles of Friar Laurence, the Nurse, and Paris blend and complement the story without anyone hogging the limelight – with exaggerated accents to boot.
With an open stage, the scenery is multifunctional, and scaffolding becomes a tomb, ballroom and battleground. The famous balcony scene unfolds as a daring vertical dance, while the final death sequence strips the play down to the bare bones of one spotlight.
This modern, interactive adaptation also brings in live drumming, guitars and singing, which add to the atmosphere and pace of the story, enhancing moments of ecstasy, tension, and grief, making it even more memorable than anything I ever watched in school.
Romeo and Juliet runs at Wilton’s Music Hall until 21 June 2025. Tickets at wiltons.org.uk
