REVIEW: Fantastic fun as Juliet survives her Romeo

It’s been observed that Romeo & Juliet isn’t actually a love story at all. It’s a four-day relationship between a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old which results in six deaths.

OK, that’s probably a little brutal (but then again so is the play). But you can perfectly well see just why we might need an alternative version in which Juliet gets a second chance.

That alternative version is at the Mayflower, Southampton, this week – and it is absolutely sensational, built around an astonishing performance on professional debut by Gerardine Sacdalan as Juliet but supported and amplified every step of the way by the whole company, a very special bunch of high-class talents having – and giving us – a blast.

There is wonderful humour throughout and cleverness which is never clever-clever, all bowling along on a tide of huge energy and the songs of Max Martin, the songwriter/producer behind more number one hits than any other artist this century, and his collaborators.

The gist is that poor old Shakespeare – beautifully, wittily played by Matt Cardle – is just putting the finishing touches to Romeo & Juliet when in stomps his aggrieved and sorely neglected wife Anne – terrific from Lara Denning – and rewrites his play before his very eyes, setting Juliet free to enjoy the life she should have had.

And what adventures she has – relationships more mismatched than star-crossed – before a surprise resurrection from Romeo himself (great performance, great comedy from Jack Danson). Throw it all together, and it’s the kind of show that leaves you on a total high, richly original, superbly performed and endless fun and yet not without its poignancy as Gerardine Sacdalan – and what a remarkable performance it is – gives us a Juliet learning to speak up for herself and to lead her own life. This really is theatre at its very best.