West End Shakespeare in the post-pandemic era is almost exclusively the preserve of just two auteur Brit directors: Jamie Lloyd and Robert Icke. And who can complain about that – Lloyd’s flamboyand reimaginings and Icke’s rigorously intellectual – but always moving – interrogations cover pretty much all the bases not already covereed by the copious other outlets for the Bard’s work in London.
Icke has in fact already directed Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedy Romeo & Juliet – it was the one time prodigy’s first ever professional show, a 2012 production for Headlong. A lot has happened since then, though contemporary reviews were glowing and many Icke-ian conceits – notably a ticking clock, which the cast manipulated – were already in place. So maybe it’ll share something with it, though there’s a totally different creative team and Icke’s restless intellect is liable to have drifted on to other aspects.
What we can definitely say is it has some pretty damn heavyweight lead casting in the form of Stranger Things star Sadie Sink as Juliet. Despite being just 23, she’s racked up a decent number of Broadway performances: as a girl the flame-haired performer spent years in Annie, and her return to the stage post fame came with 2025’s hipster smash John Proctor is the Villian. This will, however, be her first stab at Shakespeare. She’ll be joined by Noah Jupe as Romeo. He is less well-known but his face might be familiar: he played middle child Marcus in the Quiet Place horror films, and will take on the title role of Shakespeare’s son in Chloe Zhao’s imminent Hamnet movie.
Further casting is TBA, though Icke has a tendency to work with the same actors again and again, so don’t be surprised if a few familiar faces turn up.
