#Theatre Tom

[not-so-rosyyy]

TOM HOLLAND as Romeo Montague in Jamie Lloyd's Romeo and Juliet on the West End (May 2024) Original Photos by Marc Brenner

[asexualenjolras]

I can't believe there are people out there that go and watch Les Misérables and don't cry over the silly drunk cynic that's in love with their ambitious, god-like leader.

[olympain]

Happy Opening to the Cast & Crew of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead! Photography by Stoo Metz

[madisoncounty]

congratulations to stereophonic on winning the 2024 tony award for best play!

[katewritesss]

Iceman: *Realizing that he has feelings for a tiny, feral pilot named Maverick* Iceman (to himself): What is this feeling? Iceman: LOATHING. Unadulterated loathing.

[justzawe]

Tom telling Zawe “You look absolutely lovely” 🥹

[shakespearenews]

[ya-to-ra]

I hope this doesn't flop like it did in tiktok 😭

[thollandnewsbra]

“Therefore love moderately; long love doth so; Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” ― William Shakespeare.

Congratulations to Tom Holland, Francesca Rivers and the entire cast & crew of 'ROMEO & JULIET' for their highly acclaimed sold-out run on the West-End.

[not-so-rosyyy]

TOM HOLLAND as Romeo Montague & FRANCESCA AMEWUDAH-RIVERS as Juliet Capulet in Jamie Lloyd's Romeo and Juliet on the West End (May 2024) Original Photos by Marc Brenner

[olympain]

The rehearsal of ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd in the titular roles. 📸 @stoometzphoto

[insanityclause]

Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2023 - Arrivals

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 19: Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton attend the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2023 at Claridge's Hotel on November 19, 2023 in London, England. (Photos by Tristan Fewings/Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

[arcadialedger]

First look at Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet Capulet!

Please support this production, as this beautiful woman endured a horrific racist backlash upon the announcement of her casting alongside Tom Holland. She deserves all of the support and love!

[justzawe]

Zawe and Tom via ES Culture instagram stories

The ass pat! 😂

[rosebug3]

Smash Superfan Andrew Rannells

[spidey-strange]

Romeo, Romeo...

I am now living in a post Romeo & Juliet world. It might well be the only time I get to see it, but honestly what I saw on Saturday is going to stay with me forever. I wanted to put it down into words - my review of this play.

The first part of the experience is the music. We were in the bar and this repetitive rumble sound played over the tannoy, signalling that we were being called to Verona. We took our seats and we waited, all while more and more haze appeared across the sparsely-set stage and the music bore deep into my soul, gnarling and industrial, giving a sense of dystopian doom and foreboding. By the time the lights went out and the video screen showed 1597 in bright red lettering, I was already feeling a nervous nausea and an elevated heart rate.

This play is asking you to pretend, as much as they are. There is no set. There are no props. The actors stand like statues, dotted around, sometimes deep into the back of the stage as if ghostly apparitions. Sometimes the actors talk freely, other times they take their place behind mic stands as if part of a debating society. What happens on stage is coupled with video footage of other actors scattered around the bowels of the theatre, in the narrow backstage corridors, or even the theatre bar (and, of course, the roof). The fourth-wall breaks that often punctuate the end of these short video pieces eally pierce into your soul, looming over you, much like the mood of this whole production.

An example - as Mercutio lay dying, the camera is right in his face so you get the full pain and rage of him as he screams "a plague upon both your houses" and takes his final breaths. All the while, Romeo stands metres away, covered in blood, seething with unbridled rage, tears mixing with the blood of his friend.

The interval moment that follows literally made everyone gasp, a jumpscare that absolutely warrants the gravity of the moment. I won't say more because if there's even a 0.1% chance of you seeing it I don't want it ruined.

The second act of this play is decidedly quieter than the first. Clandestine conversations, whispers between characters, the comedy, gone. The deaths of Thibault and Mercutio loom large as the reality of the consequences kick in. Juliet remains defiant to the last - this is a Juliet who really knows what she wants (supported by Nurse, who is more like an older sister character full of kindness and friendly age-appropriate advice). As the end draws near, and the inevitability of what's about to happen (let's face it, we've all studied it at school, we know what happens!) becomes apparent, the silence in the theatre speaks volumes.

This production challenges you to see the traditional story through a far darker lens, and the blank spaces leave room for the oppressive mood and music to thrive and grow. It asks you to find answers in the quiet as much as the loud. It might be the best known love story of all time but the added weight of the staging proves everything hangs on the final line: "For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Now. Acting. And oh boy was there acting. I'm going to start with Mercutio (Joshua-Alexander Williams) and Paris (Daniel Quinn-Toye) - two actors who are in their first professional production. What pressure, and how they dealt with it. Particularly Joshua-Alexander! I thought Tomiwa Edun, who played Capulet, Juliet's father, was immense - so sinister in his delivery, he had me convinced he was head of a family and of a gang empire. And Freema Agyeman as Nurse was wonderful, as I said earlier, giving this big sister energy and providing delighful lighter moments against the shade. HUGE mention to Nima Taleghani who not only was an excellent Benvolio but also edited the original text to make it a 1hr 45 version that was powerful and punchy.

Now, our main stars. Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet was incredible. She was headstrong, she was poised, she was dynamic and still at the same time. She portrayed a Juliet desperate to be free from the confines of her family, but clear that she knew what she wanted from the love (and escape) she sought. The second act belonged to her, her stillness lingering.

And the reason I fought for a ticket, Tom Holland. I've seen him at film premieres and press events, and twice playing golf, but the opportunity to see him do what (as fans) we all know to be his true calling, was irresistible. And oh my God. Honestly I was blown away by his portrayal. Brooding, emotional, at times so quiet you had to strain to hear his lament. And then rage, euphoria, shyness, a fumbling lovesick idiot. Throughout the production he provides so much range, but also so much depth, it's impossible not to feel everything he does.

To see him, clearly in his element, providing a soul to Romeo that I've never felt before - I couldn't be prouder as a fan. For too long he has been tarred with the brush that he is not a "serious actor". As fans we know that The Devil all the Time, Cherry, and The Crowded Room are proof otherwise. This should be the moment the world realises he is INCREDIBLE, to be taken seriously, to be given the respect he is long overdue.

I wish beyond words that I get to see this play again. I hope at the very least it gets an NT live screening so that fans around the world get to witness this amazing, unique, innovative production.

Violent delights indeed have violent ends.