The National Theatre is set to stage a new production of Romeo and Juliet with Josh O'Connor and Jessie Buckley as the star-cross’d lovers.
Simon Godwin will direct the play in the Olivier Theatre, following his work on the critically acclaimed Antony and Cleopatra and Twelfth Night.
O’Connor, who had his breakthrough in God's Own Country, will soon be on TV screens as Prince Charles in the third season of The Crown, while Buckley has starred in Wild Rose, Judy and HBO’s Chernobyl. They will be joined by Fisayo Akinade as Mercutio.
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre artistic director Rachel O’Riordan will direct a new take on the same story by Gary Owen. Romeo and Julie will take inspiration from Shakespeare’s tale to follows the relationship of two working class teenagers.
Also announced in the upcoming season will be a transfer of Alanna Mitchell’s one-woman show about the state of the oceans, Sea Sick, which follows a sold-out run at Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year. Jude Christian will reimagine Hamlet for a younger audience, with direction from Tinuke Craig.
These productions join the previously announced Wuthering Heights by Emma Rice’s Wise Children company and Tony Kushner’s The Visit or The Old Lady Comes to Call, with Hugo Weaving and Lesley Manville.
