The Concept: Juliet Decides Her Own Fate
It’s around 1597 and Shakespeare is putting the finishing touches on his new play, Romeo and Juliet, when his wife Anne Hathaway arrives. Anne frankly, hates the double-suicide ending and takes Will’s quill. She then proceeds to write a new story where, after Romeo dies, Juliet packs up and flees with her Nurse and her two best friends to have a holiday in Paris (the city, not her ex-fiance).
To find a jukebox musical that is so self-aware in its writing, so humorous in the way it includes its songs through the narrative, and so blatantly charming, is a pure joy…and really, if you asked me to summarise this review into just a sentence it would be that: & Juliet is pure joy. –Carly Fisher
Stuff you Might have Missed
- Anne Hathaway Shakespeare- the sonnet Anne complains that Shakespeare never mentions her in his work, except once in sonnet 145, where he writes: “I hate, from hate away she threw, and saved my life saying, ‘not you’.”
- Anne and the Second Best Bed– After breaking the fourth wall, Anne also complains that her husband left nothing to her in his will but “My second best bed with the furniture.” This is true, and some scholars have attempted to defend this choice, but it certainly doesn’t look good. In the myth of Shakespeare, this story has helped to construct the Shakespeare who cares more about his work than his wife. What’s interesting is that “&Juliet” helps address this myth and examines it. For more information about the myth of Anne and Will, click here to see my review of “Hamnet”
- Yes, Juliet might be based on a historical character. One reason Will objects to his wife changing the play is that it violates the historical accuracy of the story. Like I said in my “Genesis of Romeo and Juliet,” the Capulets and Montegues might have been based on real political factions in Verona.
The Characters
The Music
All the songs in “& Juliet” came from one man- Max Martin, a Sweedish songwriter who has composed songs for Brittney Spears, Celene Dion, and The Backstreet Boys. These mega pop-hits were a huge part of my childhood, so seeing them combined with my favorite writer definitely tickled me and set off my nostalgia goggles. More importantly, it’s very interesting to see how the playwright David West Read turned these songs into a musical.
Setting “Romeo and Juliet” to pop music is by no means a new idea- “Gnomio and Juliet” underscored the whole movie with music by Elton John (who also produced the film). Making Shakespeare into a kind of rock or pop star is also not a new idea- Something Rotten and the musical version of “Shakespeare In Love” also did that. What is new is the concept of turning the story of Romeo and Juliet into a jukebox musical- a story where all the songs are pre-existing pop songs.
Normally I hate jukebox musicals- I find it irritating when producers take an artists’ songs and try to stitch them together into a coherent musical play. In normal musicals, the songs are designed to further the plot and help explain the characters’ internal and external conflicts. In my experience with most jukebox musicals, the songs feel like a waste of time, because the songs were never designed to tell an overarching story, so when they are integrated into a play, the story grinds to a halt. When it’s done badly, either you’re bored with the songs, or bored with the play.
With this in mind, I was prepared to dislike “&Juliet”. I was expecting either to hate the songs for slowing down the plot, or to hate the plot because I wanted to get back to the songs. But… miraculously, both the songs and the story WORKS! David West Read did a great job seeing the overarching themes of loss, love, and conflict within relationships within the music of Max Martin, and translate them into Romeo and Juliet- the iconic lovesick teenagers.
I’d like to highlight the incredible effect of one of these songs in the context of the play- “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” by Miller, made popular by Brittney Spears:
Oh, baby, baby
The reason I breathe is you
Boy, you got me blinded
Oh, pretty baby
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
It’s not the way I planned it
It’s very clever that the writer gave this song to Juliet when she us at her most down and most self-destructive. She feels like her life is over without Romeo (her loneliness is killing her). What’s nice about this musical is that this moment is the beginning of Juliet’s arch, not the end.
Costumes
I could write a whole post about how clever the costumes are, and I will at a later date. Suffice it to say that they compliment the story and music by blending Elizabethan costumes with the sort of late 90s-early 2000s pop-star fashion favored by The Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, and of course, Brittney Spears.
My Final Word
This show might not please everyone- hardcore Shakespeare nerds might find the concept hard to swallow, and honestly since the songs are mostly from the 90s and early 2000s, the music might be a little dated for a modern audience. Also, with the positive portrayal of homosexual relationships this show is DEFINATELY NOT FOR CONSERVATIVES. That said, it might do exactly what I’d hoped it would do- make fun of Shakespeare with care and in the process, get audiences to enjoy it anew.
OTher Reviews/ For More Information
In a world and in an age where everything is taken so seriously, it’s a complete delight to return to the idea of going to the theatre simply for fun and entertainment. Yes, the storyline is light and the line up of songs is a laundry list of bops, but in my opinion, there’s no problem in any of that! Quite the opposite! Packed to the brim with exceptional talent and some of Australia’s top dancers filling the ensemble…this is entertainment for entertainment’s sake and that is a lost art form in and of itself. – Carly Fisher
https://thesmithcenter.com/explore/smith-center-blog/and-juliet-pop-quiz/
The Shakespearean Student 