Jules ♥ Romeo

Jules ♥ Romeo

A local story of love and loss

December 2nd and 3rd, 7pm, Browns' Mart Theatre

Going on from last year’s sell out season, the ensemble from 'Afloat' have come together again to bring a uniquely Darwin version of Romeo and Juliet.The production, titled 'Jules ♥ Romeo' will see the Shakespearean Tragedy readapted to the context and times of contemporary Darwin.

"Shakespeare’s so universal,” said director, Sarah Catherine Hope. “It’s worked really well - all those themes are still so relevant today – love, hate, feuding.

“After 'Afloat', the ensemble identified they wanted to do a Shakespeare,” said Ms Hope, “and like any group of young people, they’re interested in exploring themes of relationships, love, friendship.”

“It was important to bring the story into a context that was relevant to the ensemble,” said, Ms Hope. As part of the process, the first six months was spent on skills development and also explored the traditional story of Romeo and Juliet. This gave the actors a sense of intimacy with the story and through that, a sense of ownership. Ms Hope then developed a contemporary story structure and the cast workshopped the dialogue and action within each scene.

'Jules ♥ Romeo' is an all-abilities production, which means the people involved have different support needs. The performers also have a wide range of ways of communicating and that was incorporated into the devising process. Instead of standard dialogue and action, the play has bloomed into multimedia production. There are some non vocal characters. There are dance elements, signing, even texting.

“My personal bent is to work with each performer’s strengths,” said Ms Hope. “The end result is a production that highlights the skills of each performer and asks the audience to have another think about disabilities in terms of what people can do and to realise that people of all abilities have strengths and are capable of professional artistic practice.”

'Jules ♥ Romeo' stars Callum Bateman, Megan Halvorson, Josh Campton, Alex McInnes and Michael Andrews. The production is a partnership between the Darwin Community Arts 'CemeNTworX' project and Arts Access Darwin. Major sponsors are 32 Degrees and The Australian Government Regional Arts Fund managed through Arts NT.

The performance is at Browns Mart Theatre on December the 2nd and December the 3rd (International Day of People With Disability) at 7pm. Tickets are $15 full or $10 concession and will be on sale at the door one hour prior to the performance.