What's on in Warwickshire

RSC in Romeo and Juliet

26 Dec 2008 - 10 Jan 2009; not Mon or Sun (various dates)

Cost: Previews (to 3 Dec) £5-£20
From 4 Dec: Mon-Fri & Mat £10-£30; Sat eve £12-£38

Hours: 7.15pm; 4 Dec 7pm; Mat 1pm

Those most famous of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet return to the RSC's repertoire in this new production by Neil Bartlett at Stratford's Courtyard Theatre, following a UK tour. David Dawson and Anneika Rose star.

Romeo is a Montague, a clan at constant loggerheads with the Capulets. His fate is that he falls for Capulet's beautiful young daughter, Juliet. Friar Lawrence secretly weds them, hoping that their love will heal the warring factions' rift, but Romeo has already killed Juliet's cousin in revenge for the murder of the Duke's son and is banished. Juliet relies on the Friar's potion to feign her death, but the message doesn't get through to Romeo . . .

Neil Bartlett, returning to the RSC having directed John Lithgow in Twelfth Night, opts for a bare stage and classic 1940s/1950s Italian costumes - as if straight out of a Fellini or Visconti film. There is also a seven-piece live band on stage, so all is set fair for an immediately engaging and engrossing production.

Joining Dawson and Rose are Owain Arthur (Peter), Ben Ashton (Paris), James G Bellorini (Friar John), Michael Benz (Balthasar), James Clyde (Friar Laurence), Dan Crow (Sampson), Mark Holgate (Tybalt), Christopher Hunter (Lord Capulet), Katie Krane (Lady Montague), Julie Legrand (Nurse), Éva Magyar (Lady Capulet), Niamh McCann (Ball Guest), Vinta Morgan (Escalus), Geoffrey Newland (Capulet's Cousin), Ryan O'Donnell (Gregory), Daniel Percival (Benvolio), Craig Ritchie (Apothecary), Mark Ross (Lord Montague), Gyuri Sarossy (Mercutio) and Rebecca Wingate (Ball Guest).

While the RSC's permanent Stratford home, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, is completely refurbished and remodelled as a thrust stage, the company has transferred its base over the road to the custom-built Courtyard Theatre. Its commitment to touring is as strong as ever and, under current artistic director Michael Boyd, the company has a renewed fervour for new writing.

Courtyard Theatre