In “& Juliet,” sometimes selfishness is necessary for self-love

By Marielle Treese| Arts Angle Vantage Reporter

Assumption High School, Class of 2027

Way too often, misunderstandings occur. For example, many people compare love stories and real-life relationships to the lovers in the globally-known play “Romeo and Juliet,” even though it’s a tragedy. With virtues turned vices when misapplied, in Shakespeare’s words, this play ends with the lovers taking their own lives. But what if it wasn’t a tragedy and had a happier end?

The company of the North American Tour of “& Juliet.” Photo by Matthew Murphy. Courtesy PNC Broadway in Louisville.

“& Juliet,” which opened on April 22 at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, explores this idea of the story ending differently. In the musical, when Shakespeare (Corey Mach) tells his wife, Anne Hathaway (Teal Wicks), how he has written the ending, she doesn’t like it. She asks him, “But what if Juliet didn’t kill herself?” 

From here, “& Juliet” explores the concept of Juliet (Rachel Simone Webb) deciding to not follow through with her idea of using Romeo’s (Michael Canu) dagger to end her own life when she wakes up and sees him dead. Instead, Shakespeare and Hathaway battle over the story’s pathway and sabotage each other’s ideas for Juliet’s destiny. 

Many elements add to this musical’s overall charm — the script, the song choices, the actors’ performances and the technical elements. Every single detail took an impressive amount of creativity and deep thought. The costumes (Paloma Young) create a much similar atmosphere to a regular production of “Romeo & Juliet”, except they add modern flair, bright colors and trendy styles. The set design (Soutra Gilmour), while minimalistic itself, uses movable furniture and intricate projections (designer Andrzej Goulding) to show scenic changes. The choice of songs, all written by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, fit almost perfectly within the context of the storyline. Sometimes, details in the story were added solely based on the lyrics. 

For example, the song “I Want It That Way” portrays Shakespeare and Hathaway’s disagreement on the plot of “Romeo and Juliet.” Hathaway wants Juliet to have a best friend, find a new lover, go to Paris, and find her independence. Shakespeare still wants the original ending he wrote in the play where Romeo and Juliet both commit suicide.

This retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” explores the complexities of various relationships and the confusing experience of navigating your way in a world where you encounter obstacle after obstacle thrown at you, whether metaphorical or literal.

Rachel Simone Webb and the company of the North American Tour of “& Juliet.” Photo by Matthew Murphy. Courtesy PNC Broadway in Louisville.

Lord (Usman Ali Mughal) & Lady Capulet (Nicole Lamb) tell Juliet she is to be sent to a nunnery for being disobedient. So, she travels to Paris with her nurse, Angélique (Naina Alakham); her best friend May (Nick Drake); and her second-best friend April (actually a self-insert for Anne). But she finds herself in a story just as chaotic, if not worse than the original Shakespearean tale, with more family drama and misunderstandings.

Once in Paris, the group breaks into a party and the set reveals a new club-like location, with crowded furniture, flashing lights and fireworks. The dancers come to life as they sing the chorus of Ke$ha’s “Blow” and bring high-energy choreography (Jennifer Weber) to the stage to create a busy party atmosphere. Away from the chaos, Juliet bonds with François (Mateus Leite Cardoso), a socially awkward but sweet and sincere boy. Like Juliet’s parents, François’s father, Lance (Paul-Jordan Jansen), has high expectations that his son struggles to meet. His father even went as far to tell François not to disappoint him “for once in [his] life.” Juliet and François eventually share a kiss.

Unexpectedly, François proposes to her the very next morning. Juliet is compelled to say yes to not hurt his feelings — and because her parents have suddenly caught her. Even more surprisingly, they arrange the wedding for the very next day. Juliet is already struggling to decide whether or not she wants any of this. Obviously, it can only go further downhill — and it does. Shakespeare is determined to have his original ending, so he literally brings Romeo back from the dead.

Juliet has a choice to make, but no one is letting her make that choice herself. Shakespeare and Anne keep writing up even more drama, and the pressure from her friends and family and their expectations suffocates her. By the wedding, more antics ensue. She decides she’s had enough and wants to take control of her own destiny for a change. 

As someone who has felt belittled and ignored by my peers for much longer than I should have ever had to, Juliet’s journey through “& Juliet” inspires me. Sometimes when you’re upset, people might tell you that life is not easy or nobody is perfect. These words can be extremely hard to listen to when all the things in your life seem to be suffocating you, while everyone is living their best life. But you’re not alone. 

Every single person who has lived on Earth has struggled more than once in their lifetime. No one expects you to be perfect at everything when they are imperfect themselves. In the hard times when you feel you are struggling to breathe through all the stress, you need to stand tall. Remember, no matter what happens, love will always exist. And sometimes, what you need most is to love yourself after feeling pushed away and ignored for far too long.

Marielle Treese (she/her), a sophomore at Assumption High School, is in Assumption’s Rose Theatre Company’s costume construction crew and is a first-degree black belt in taekwondo. She is also a member of Assumption’s Academic Team. She likes to try new things and expand her areas of expertise. Some interests include K-Pop music, writing, mathematics, crochet and reading books. She reviewed "Six" with Arts Angle Vanateage in 2024.