Bucks &amp; Oxon

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Are you ready to be entertained? This production of the Olivier Award-winning, &amp; Juliet, first performed in 2019 in Manchester, is as light and throwaway as the gold tickitape that cascades down on the audience in the finale. Yet it still works as a piece of uplifting, entertaining piece of theatre &#8211; the entire audience on its feet for the final number on opening night at Oxford&#8217;s New Theatre (Mon 2 Sept) proved that much.



Created by David West Read, a writer on the Emmy Award-winning Schitt’s Creek, &amp; Juliet poses the question of what would have happened to Juliet if she&#8217;d decided not to kill herself in Act V of the tragedy. So Anne Hathaway (a spot-on Lara Denning whose comic timing matched her strong, pure vocals) persuades her husband Shakespeare (Matt Cardle from The X Factor!) to re-write the ending to something more life-affirming and cheerful. 



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And so we start a daft, comedic plot within a plot. Juliet escapes her overbearing, heartless mother who wants to stick her in a convent on Romeo&#8217;s death, and instead runs off to Paris with her nurse and her non-binary best friend, May. Here, with a huge nod to the musical Six, Juliet gets her major girl-sass on, before falling into an engagement with a guy called Frankie to avoid being taken back home by her mother who&#8217;s tracked her down in Paris. Frankie then kisses her non-binary best friend and realises he&#8217;s not a gal guy (you still following?). And then Shakespeare decides to put his oar in and bring Romeo back to life. I mean I could go on with the subplot between a French nobleman (Dr Ranj Singh &#8211; not even kidding) and Nurse but let&#8217;s leave something to your imagination.



&amp; Juliet bills itself as a &#8216;fun Shakespearean jukebox musical&#8217; and in fairness that&#8217;s pretty accurate since the plot&#8217;s been created around the songs &#8211; a series of megahits by Swedish songwriter Max Martin who penned belters for all the big stars in the Nineties/Noughties including Britney Spears’s&nbsp;Oops! . . . I Did It Again; Pink&#8217;s F**kin’ Perfect and Katy Perry’s&nbsp;Roar.



With so many audience members virtually lip-synching the songs as they&#8217;re being sung, the fourth wall broken several times and Dr Ranj in full period regalia, hamming it up like un énorme cochon as Lance, it veers into panto/karaoke territory at times, though it mostly manages to stay on the right side of farce, helped by moments of emotional punch. Lara Dennings&#8217;s solo where she reveals her vulnerability as a Tudor wife, with no power, waiting for her husband to return, received the biggest cheer of the night. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/450781387_997121392418262_5770441745277243845_n.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-169954" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/450781387_997121392418262_5770441745277243845_n.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/450781387_997121392418262_5770441745277243845_n-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/450781387_997121392418262_5770441745277243845_n-400x266.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr Raj Singh as a French nobleman with Sandra Marvin as Nurse</figcaption></figure>



The title role of Juliet is taken by Gerardine Sacdalan, who delivers strongly with a flawless, powerful voice that avoids the helium-delivery so prevalent in musical theatre. But there&#8217;s strength throughout the show. Sandra Marvin as Nurse has the most soulful, powerful voice of all &#8211; the ex-Emmerdale actress is now a regular West End performer and the experience shows.



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&amp; Juliet is directed Luke Sheppard whose West End creds include In the Heights, Rent, and Little Big Things, and he rattles it along nicely, particularly in the first half. The supporting cast and dancers are all en pointe, and costumes are an eclectic mix of full Tudor (Matt Cardle in codpiece and feather-adorned hat), old meets new (Romeo wearing a top that&#8217;s part ruff, part shirt), and full modern: the boy band garb for the funniest act of the night, when Shakespeare, Romeo, May, Dr Ranj and his on-stage son Frankie perform Backstreet Boys&#8217; Everybody.



The backdrop was a bit simplistic, barely bothering to signal the change of location from Verona to Paris, but if you love this kind of crowd-pleasing musical theatre, I doubt you&#8217;ll care. The froth and fun and escapism shines right into your eyes, just surrender to it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



Good for: If you like you musicals rammed with musical hits, you&#8217;re in heaven here &#8211; 30 pop songs delivered over two-and-a-half hours. The panto/karaoke delivery means that kids and young teens will love it too. The messages of inclusivity, gender-sensitivity and girl power hit all the right modern notes. 



Not for: If you&#8217;re hoping for nuance or thought-provoking theatre, press cancel on those tickets. Anyone who dislikes Nineties&#8217; pop poppets won&#8217;t last through the first half. 



<a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/and-juliet/new-theatre-oxford/?gad_source=1&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADyYT1PXRNY-tBgCEkqxrJbYDYCgQ&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgZ2Ti5GkiAMVC5dQBh12RS2CEAAYASAAEgIInfD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&amp; Juliet</a> is showing at the New Theatre Oxford from Mon 2 &#8211; Sat 7 Sept. 24-26 George St, Oxford OX1 2AG. 



<a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/and-juliet/new-theatre-oxford/calendar/2024-09-03?gad_source=1&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADyYT1PXRNY-tBgCEkqxrJbYDYCgQ&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgZ2Ti5GkiAMVC5dQBh12RS2CEAAYASAAEgIInfD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book tickets</a>

Review: & Juliet, New Theatre Oxford

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