Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake pop up in Shakespearean juke box heaven

& Juliet

at New Theatre Oxford

from Monday, September 2 to Saturday 7

Review by JON LEWIS

WHAT if William Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, Romeo & Juliet, didn’t die in their Veronese tomb but survived to have further adventures?

This is the fun premise in the 2019 juke box musical &Juliet, written Schitt’s Creek’s Emmy-award-winning Canadian writer David West Read.

The songs come from the back catalogue of Swedish songwriter Max Martin, the second most successful artist for gaining number one hits (behind Paul McCartney) in US Billboard charts.

Juliet (Gerardine Sacdalan), learning that Romeo (Jack Danson) was a serial womaniser before marrying her after their 4-day whirlwind relationship, finds herself in Paris, engaged to the less-than dynamic Francois (Kyle Cox) after only one night’s conversation at Francois’ glitzy ball.

Fearing it’s another mistake, Juliet hilariously sings Martin’s 2000 hit for Britney Spears Ooops!... I Did It Again, its familiar lyrics cleverly interpreted for its new context.

Over the course of the musical, songs written for the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake pop up in unexpectedly amusing scenes, cheesily popular anthems the audience can sing along to.

The destiny of the lovers, and of Juliet’s best friend, the non-binary May (Jordan Broatch), Juliet’s nurse Angelique (Sandra Marvin), and Francois’ weirdly French-accented father Lance (tv doctor Ranj Singh) are not in their hands at all.

In a clever Pirandello-like twist, they are all characters in a Shakespeare play on its first night.

Shakespeare (Matt Cardle) and his resentful wife Anne (Lara Denning) feud over the dialogue and plot. Anne, with grievances of being left to bring up the children in Stratford while William carouses in London, unhappy about being left only the second-best bed in her husband’s will, wants the narrative infused with girl power themes. William wants his arty tragedy. They both become characters in the play, trying to influence the outcome.

Luke Sheppard’s cheekily vibrant production, originally produced for the Manchester International Festival, even has a model jukebox centre stage (designer, Soutra Gilmour).

Andrzej Goulding’s whizzy video design, Paloma Young’s postmodern Tudor-ish costumes and Jennifer Weber’s effervescent choreography with its breakdancing and bodypopping are all top notch.

Another must-see musical at the New Theatre this year.