& Juliet at Opera House, Manchester – a musical for a life after Romeo

If you’re ready for some absolute classic pop songs rolled into a theatre show about a girl not needing a man in her life – this is it.

& Juliet is much like a sequel to the Shakespeare classic Romeo & Juliet, but imagines what would have happened if Juliet didn’t die at the end.

It’s all about a life after Romeo – soundtracked by non-stop pop anthems.

After finding out that her star-crossed lover actually dated lots of people, and wasn’t only in love with Juliet (all too relevant to real life I think), she decides to escape with her friends to France and live her best life.

Seeing Juliet’s second chance at love, the story between William Shakespeare and his wife, and also a prince who was being forced to find a princess (but actually was falling in love with Maye, a non-binary character also finding out about themselves), the modern-day musical is bringing love stories bang up to date.

And the playlist that carries the & Juliet story along throughout its run in Manchester includes hits like Hit Me Baby One More Time, I Want It That Way by Backstreet boys, Roar by Katy Perry, and so many more.

One thing I absolutely cannot skip out on here is how INCREDIBLE the voices of the entire cast are, with Matt Cardle playing Shakespeare, Gerardine Sacdalan playing Juliet, Lara Denning as Anne Shakespeare and Sandra Marvin as Angelique. They really blew it out the park, and had everyone on their feet.

A mix of humour and romance, you’ll be belly laughing one minute, then filling up with tears and dancing the next.

Especially with TV doctor Ranj Singh shining in the comedic role of the French King – he was brilliant, and hilarious.

Created by the same writers as Schitts Creek (this sold it to me before I’d even see the show) The producer, Tim Headington, even came on at the end as we went on the first night in Manchester to say: “We wanted to create something where you can escape the world for just two hours, and then get up and dance at the end.” And that is absolutely what they’ve done.

I’ve seen a lot of theatre shows now, and this has to absolutely be up there with one of my favourites.

& Juliet is on at the Manchester Opera House until 20 July – so make sure to grab your tickets before it’s too late here.

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Featured image: Matt Crockett