“& Juliet” breaks Shakespeare’s quill only to add more flourish to a famous story

By Greyson Lindblom | Arts Angle Vantage Reporter

duPont Manual High School, Class of 2027

In the second act of “& Juliet,” Anne Hathaway (Teal Wicks) snatches the quill back from her husband, Shakespeare (Corey Mach). This moment is the culmination of the conflict between the two. The musical focuses on a what-if scenario where Juliet (Rachel Simone Webb) decides to live after Romeo (Michael Canu) kills himself at the end of Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo & Juliet.”

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

You soon learn that this musical isn’t just about Juliet. It opens with Shakespeare announcing he’s finally finished, but Anne is upset he insists on writing tragedy after tragedy. They set off to change the ending together and hash through a lot of conflict, largely, the only conflict throughout the musical. 

“& Juliet” opened April 22 and ran through April 27 at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. The soundtrack comes from the catalog of Swedish songwriter Max Martin. Songs by the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande feature. 

Anne finds new freedoms in the first act, as she quickly inserts herself into the story. She is April, one of Juliet’s new best friends and not the only supporting cast. The musical elevates her nurse from the original play to become Angélique (Naina Alakham) and introduces a new best friend, May (Nick Drake). They’re nonbinary. Anne steps up to admonish Shakespeare in their defense, providing the audience with a reminder that identities outside of the gender binary are not a new phenomenon.

“Really?” Anne asks. “This from the man who’s built a career on men dressing as women, often playing women dressing as men? The man whose name is basically synonymous with gender-bending? Do you really think it’s up to you to question May’s gender or sexuality, or do you think maybe May is whoever May is, and it’s really none of your business?”

The first act is fun. Juliet, Angélique, April and May all escape from Verona and travel to Paris. They go clubbing and meet new and old love interests. That includes François (Mateus Leite Cardoso) and his father, Lance (Paul-Jordan Jansen). You think they’ll dash off to another city because Juliet said she wanted to travel the world. But France is where the remainder of the play takes place, as she quickly falls into another fast-paced marriage with François, who actually likes May more. There’s a lot of singing and dancing — it is a musical, after all. But there’s not much conflict.

Mateus Leite Cardoso and Nick Drake in the North American Tour of “& Juliet.” Photo by Matthew Murphy.  Courtesy PNC Broadway in Louisville.

Shakespeare even points out this lack of friction, much to Anne’s chagrin, and raises Romeo from the dead. Romeo’s eager to reunite with his wife; they are star-crossed lovers. But this time, Juliet isn’t having it — this is her story now.

Shakespeare is still frustrated with the direction his wife is taking his story, and Anne thinks that Shakespeare cares more about his plays than his family. This is nothing but more interpersonal conflict. 

But when Anne breaks the quill, she relinquishes control over the story’s ending. The play within the play is finally allowed a breath of fresh air. 

The death of an author is a familiar concept, as is separating the art from the artist; the divorce of the creator from their work has been around for centuries. Even “& Juliet” conceptually exhibits this separation. The real-life Shakespeare wanted Juliet distraught and dead, not gallivanting around Paris. If Juliet wants to change her life, she has to try her hardest. There’s nothing Anne can wave and magically fix her problems anymore. 

François, too, gets to choose between making his father happy and the person of his dreams. Angélique finally agrees to be with Lance. The play culminates with Juliet living out every pre-teen girl’s dream; she sings “Roar” in front of her parents and ex-boyfriends. She overcomes the will of her authors and now takes charge of her destiny.

Greyson Lindblom (he/him), a sophomore at duPont Manual High School and member of the Journalism and Communications magnet, likes to go to concerts, read and watch hockey when he isn’t writing. Find Greyson’s other writing and photography on Manual RedEye’s website. You can see him perform in Looking for Lilith’s free summer production of “Book Women.”