“This hour-long young person’s version of Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedy falls squarely into the ‘triumph’ box, a stripped down touring production that’s still so audaciously visual as to keep young audiences hooked even if blank verse isn’t their thing.
Condensed into an hour, it’s a blur of colourful costumes as daydreamer Romeo (Tendayi Jembere) and his DayGlo gangster Montagues square off against perky Juliet (Natalie Dew) and her Capulets, who seem to be rocking a line in sci-fi saris. As these super sweet, star cross’d lovers meet, Sheibani keeps things light and charming for the masked ball scene, with showers of glitter descending from the roof and Ashley Chin’s ice cool Mercutio encouraging the young audience to help dozy Romeo out with his dance moves” Andrzej Lukowski