Duke of York’s Theatre

Tom Walker’s sweary reporter alter ego has been knocking around for a while, but seems to be homing in on the big time with new show ‘Heroes & Villains’, which caps a lengthy UK tour with a fortnight in the West End. Jonathan Pie is in no way subtle: he’s a political hack forever snapping as a result of being banned from telling it how it really is (which he inevitably ends up doing). But if you’re in the market for a man swearing at the Tories a lot – and who isn’t? – then this is doubtless the show for you. 

Super-director Jamie Lloyd is renowned for his powers of celebrity wrangling. But even by his standards this is quite the coup: his production of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ will star Tom Holland, aka Spider-Man himself, in his first stage role since a lengthy stint in ‘Billy Elliot’ as a child actor. Although it’s probably fair to say Holland hasn’t really set the world on fire outside of a certain franchise, he remains one of the most famous young actors in the world thanks to his endearing MCU Peter Parker. And let’s be honest, working with Lloyd – who dazzlingly mixes populism and confrontational experimentalism – is liable to result in something a lot better than ‘Uncharted’. Holland will, of course, be playing Romeo: there’s no word on any other casting, including Juliet, but further celebrities seem unlikely – Lloyd tends to assemble diverse, interesting casts that highlight up-and-coming talent. Stylistically, we can certainly expect a contemporary setting and stripped-back aesthetic, though last year’s peerless ‘Sunset Boulevard’ did see Lloyd get back to his more maximalist roots with its gargantuan video wall and copious use of gore – you’d think a bit of the ol’ claret has to be an option for Lloyd’s take on Shakespeare’s high-ish body-count romantic tragedy.  The production sold out on Holland’s name alone, but he’ll be joined by a cast that includes the relatively unknown Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet, plus Freema Agyeman (Nurse), Michael Balogun (Friar