Shakespeare North Playhouse and Graeae have announced the cast for their new production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet from this Friday.
Directed by Graeae’s artistic director, Jenny Sealey, and staged in association with Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, the production will open at Shakespeare North Playhouse (September 13-October 5), before moving to the Lakes from October 12-26.
This retelling of the eternal love story will weave BSL, captions and audio description into the storytelling and each show will be performed in a relaxed environment by an ensemble of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors.
The cast includes Petre Dobre (The Outrun, Song in Sign); Ciaran Forrest; Kellan Frankland (House of Bernarda Alba); Cherie Gordon (Precious Emily); Shreya M Patel (Much Ado About Nothing); Reece Pantry (Of Mice and Men) and, making her professional stage debut, Rheanon Shaw. The BSL performance interpreters will be Irmina St Catherine and Craig Painting.
Jenny Sealey said, “Someone on Twitter told me: ‘here’s a novel idea; do a Shakespeare with an all- disabled cast and sell tickets to only disabled people. Good luck with that’.
"Well, I am indeed doing a Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, with an all deaf, disabled and neurodivergent cast, but it's a play for the audiences of the North West, whether they be deaf, disabled, neurodivergent or non-disabled. It's a play that can touch us all."
Creative director at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Laura Collier, said: "Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most famous of all stories to explore the conflict of youth. In this production I want the audience to feel like all of us can be Romeo, and all of us can be Juliet. We will celebrate humanity and shine a light on what ultimately brings us together: love.”
More info and tickets here