It's not in fair Verona where we lay our scene — but rather a remote corner of London, which has been transformed into a high-colour version of Verona Beach.
This summer, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, below) has been given the Secret Cinema treatment, and the show is its biggest production yet: a five-hour open-air festival and film screening packed with young hearts, ancient grudges, high-octane cars and, of course, a rather famous love story.
Dig out your angel wings and your Hawaiian shirt: you’ll be assigned your tribe when you arrive based on your outfit. Though whether you’re a Montague or Capulet, it’s time to party — the show is running until next weekend, and you’ll definitely have seen it all over your Instagram by now.
Luhrmann’s post-modern riot act is just one of a number of film favourites that have been given a new look for this summer. Over at Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s tongue-in-cheek 1982 musical Little Shop of Horrors has also been given a hot new revival.
Little Shop of Horrors - in pictures
Typically, the killer plant protagonist Audrey II is brought to life by stagecraft, but this month she’s a living, breathing drag queen. Her name is Vicky Vox and she’s over in London from America for the summer. You get to reimagine the old version with a new young cast: expect an anti-realist, subversive approach to the Faustian story.
Hamilton writer Lin-Manuel Miranda applied his Midas touch to a musical adaptation of the cult teen cheerleading movie Bring it On (he co-wrote the songs between In the Heights and Hamilton). Shake your pom-poms as the show takes you back to the Noughties.
Though, as any fan knows, there’s more to it than pigtails and high-kicks — this production, which is running at Southwark Playhouse until September 1, picks up the original themes of racism and the class divide in the US. You can sense Miranda’s verve in every line.
