Juliet and Romeo
★★★★☆ Strong
theSpace Triplex (Venue 38): Thurs 7 – Tue 12 Aug 2025
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Edinburgh Youth Theatre tackles arguably Shakespeare’s most famous play this Fringe, rising to the challenge with Juliet and Romeo, a reimagined take on the tragedy of love, loss, and senseless violence.
According to EYT the average age of the sixteen-strong cast is just fourteen; fittingly, the age Juliet has not yet reached during the events of the play. With less than two weeks of intensive rehearsal this young company, co-directed by Stephanie Wynne and Chloe Kay, have put forth a high calibre production, with a clear understanding of the text.
The cast of Edinburgh Youth Theatre’s Juliet and Romeo. Pic: Marc Millar
Set in a school in the the 90s, Juliet and Romeo occupies “the fifty minute traffic of our stage” with plenty of retro costuming and dance numbers set to throwback pop tunes. In addition to being cut for time, some alterations have been made to the text to suit this production.
Mercutio (Tobie Hutchison)’s lines, for instance, have been split across several characters, including the famous Queen Mab speech, spreading the line load and the glory throughout more of the company. The Nurse has transformed into three identically-clothed characters: Helena (Imaani Myles), Alice (Livia Hunt), and Grace (Emma Bell-Stephenson), who share the lines and one of the most coveted roles in the original.
cheeky modern inserts
Other line-sharing changes have been made, all of which are understandable in the show’s context, and don’t detract from the story. Some cheeky modern inserts have also been made: the servant, on reading the invitation sent by Capulet (in this case Lady Capulet, played by Jess Rhodes) exclaims “trying to read this fancy writing is impossible!” and later on there is a cry of “enough with the gender biased bashing, please!”
Juliet and Romeo’s claim to flipping the script is supported by a few textual changes, mostly giving lines that used to belong to Romeo to Juliet, and in such moments as Juliet carrying Romeo off the stage after their wedding. It cannot, however, claim a full feminist overhaul of the play, despite these small changes giving a bit more focus and agency to Juliet.
The cast of Edinburgh Youth Theatre’s Juliet and Romeo. Pic: Marc Millar
Juliet herself is ably played by Anna Melvin, with Bracken Kirk as Romeo. They handle the text and characters well, making a suitably cute and slightly awkward couple, with their kisses adorably implied behind trays or fans.
Watching this story play out with actors appropriate to the age of the characters also lends an additional viscerally tragic layer to it: Juliet and Romeo are children, let down by the adults in their lives at every opportunity, and this production does not shy away from that fact.
Though there are a few fumbles and dropped lines dotted throughout the play, these small mistakes are easily forgivable and covered well by the actors, who persevere in professional fashion— an important skill, particularly difficult in a play that’s so well-known and written mostly in verse.
eerie presence
Add in some fights (arranged by Wynne), the eerie presence of Mercutio and Tybalt (Frida Fontanot-Shepherd)’s ghosts, and the inopportune delay of a Royal Mail Postie (Mariella Weir), and you have all the elements of a good tragedy.
With every member of the company contributing a strong performance, Edinburgh Youth Theatre have achieved a cracking production in Juliet and Romeo, showcasing young local talent in a way that makes Shakespeare accessible to newcomers and fans alike.
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval).
theSpace Triplex (Big), The Prince Philip Building, 19 Hill Place EH8 9DP (Venue 38).
Thursday 7 – Tuesday 12 August 2025.
Tue 7 – Sun 10: 10.30am; Mon 11/Tue 12: 11.05am.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
Edinburgh Youth Theatre website: eytheatre.com
Facebook: @EYTheatre
Instagram: @edinburghyouththeatre
Linktree: @eytheatre
The cast of Edinburgh Youth Theatre’s Juliet and Romeo. Pic: Marc Millar
ENDS
