One of Shakespeare's most loved plays, Romeo and Juliet is the best known tale of star-crossed lovers and the power love can have over us all, even after death. Orpheus Theatre's production of the play hopes to bring the classic to a new generation of audience members by incorporating modern music and costumes, and setting it in a non-historical setting.
Director Andy Burt had long wanted to direct the play and had settled on the idea of casting actors around the same age as the leads, that is, teenagers.
'I've always had a bit of a problem with 20-something and even 30- and 40-something actors playing youngsters on stage,' he says. 'Of course, it is a tall order to find young actor who have the maturity and the depths of understanding to play lead roles in Shakespeare ... [But] in my experience, young actors can bring to the stage ... a freshness and energy that are a real asset to a production.'
Romeo and Juliet are played by 19-year-old Phil McManus and 15-year-old Camille Ahern respectively. Of McManus, Burt says: 'Phil impressed me at his audition by immediately making intelligent sense of the Shakespearean text. He was able to show me Romeo the lovelorn adolescent, before he meets Juliet, and the desperate victim of banishment but also the furious young man who fights and kills Tybalt.'
Having worked with Camille on Stylus Productions' Arcadia last year, Burt says: 'I offered her the part of Juliet right from the beginning ... Apart from a highly expressive voice and face, she has the intelligence to create the huge arc that Juliet goes through, from young girl to brave rebel to strong wife.'
Camille started taking drama seriously when she started studying at French International School aged 12. She took part in the Ista Festival that year, an experience which she describes as 'the best three days of my life.
'During the three days, I learned so much about theatre and music, it was all I wanted to do,' she adds.