Featuring a company of 23 actors and a seven-piece live band on stage, this bold theatrical new staging of Shakespeare's fast-moving story of two teenagers torn apart by their families' vendetta, reunites award-winning Brighton director Neil Bartlett and designer Kandis Cook, the creative team behind the 2007 sell-out Stratford-upon-Avon production of Twelfth Night.

Neil Bartlett said: "I'm very excited to be going back to the RSC – and to be working with a company of 30 performers.

"I'm going to tell Shakespeare's story on a bare stage, but with costumes from the Italy of the 1940s and 50s – think of early Fellini and Visconti movies.

"For the story to catch fire, the company has to be able to move as fast as the emotions of the lovers do, and the world of the play has to be harsh, Catholic, sexy, violent – so the beautiful, hot-blooded poetry is going to be punctuated by the flash of knives, and the sound of an Italian street band, playing live on stage with the actors.

"Our tour takes us to some really fine theatres (I'm thrilled to be opening in my home town), and I'm especially excited by the fact that this particular play always draws a crowd – both of young people who've never seen a Shakespeare play before, and of people who know and love it as one of the best stories ever written about how the world can conspire to destroy all that is brightest and most beautiful."

Romeo and Juliet

The title roles will be played by David Dawson and Anneika Rose.

David Dawson, who trained at RADA, makes his RSC debut as Romeo.

He recently played Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Gielgud Theatre, London; Chichester and international tour), for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Newcomer in a Play.

Other theatre credits include The Entertainer and Richard II (Old Vic). TV appearances include The Thick Of It and Essex Girls (BBC), Doc Martin and Up Close and Personal (ITV).

New cast member

Juliet will be played by Anneika Rose amember of the Romeo and Juliet acting company.

Raised and still based in Glasgow, Anneika trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and is making her RSC debut.

She takes on the role after Laura Rees, who was scheduled to play the part of Juliet, has had to withdraw due to ill health.

Director

Neil was artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre between 1994 and 2004, where he directed 37 productions, including Kleist's The Prince of Homberg and Marivaux's The Dispute – both co-productions with the RSC.

In 2007, he returned to the RSC to direct Twelfth Night with John Lithgow.

His production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband opens at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in August, 2008.

Skin Lane, his acclaimed third novel, was nominated for the Costa Novel Award 2008.

The cast also includes: Owain Arthur (Peter), Ben Ashton (Paris), James G. Bellorini (Friar John), Michael Benz (Balthasar), James Clyde (Friar Laurence), Dan Crow (Sampson), Mark Holgate (Tybalt), Christopher Hunter (Lord Capulet), Katie Krane (Lady Montague), Julie Legrand (Nurse), Éva Magyar (Lady Capulet), Niamh McCann (Ball Guest), Vinta Morgan (Escalus), Geoffrey Newland (Capulet's Cousin), Ryan O'Donnell (Gregory), Daniel Percival (Benvolio), Craig Ritchie (Apothecary), Anneika Rose (Ball Guest), Mark Ross (Lord Montague), Gyuri Sarossy (Mercutio) and Rebecca Wingate (Ball Guest). The production will also feature a seven-piece live band on stage.

Joining Neil Bartlett and Kandis Cook on the creative team are: Bruno Poet (lighting), Simon Slater (music), Christopher Shutt (sound), Leah Hausman (movement) and Alison de Burgh (fights).

Dates and tickets

The show runs from October 17 to 25, with a post-show discussion with the director and members of the creative team and an insight into the production process on October 22, which is free to ticket holders.


Tickets are £17 to £27 from the box office on 08700 606 650, groups hotline on 08700 606 617, access bookings on 0871 297 5477 or click here

For a question and answer session with Neil Bartlett, see the next page


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