I recently got back from my first international trip since 2017, I had planned for it to be a food trip, culminating in my presentation on a panel at the Oxford Food Symposium. Presenting at the Symposium had been a multi-year goal, and I hope to further digest the experience for a future post. I had set up a few food experiences in London for the days leading up to the Symposium and added on two advance theater tickets.
During my first trips on the Underground in London, I was inundated with posters for the West End musical & Juliet. It reminded me that one of my favorite things about traveling alone is the ability to change my plans when desired. I got tickets and headed to the theater that night, knowing only that the musical was about Juliet Capulet. My seatmates at the show were a lovely grandmother, daughter, and teenage non-binary grandchild (pronouns were carefully exchanged).
I don’t want to spoil too much, but when the show started, and the character of Anne Hathaway (Shakespear’’s wife) complained about the ending of Romeo and Juliet, I began to cheer. I now realize that watching this show, where a teenager gets to survive mistakes made in her first relationship, speaks to the current politics over abortion in the US. Watching a jukebox musical that used known pop songs to allow the multi-generational female characters to make and learn from multiple romantic mistakes unfortunately seems revolutionary right now. I wanted to show this musical to the teenage version of myself who thought she needed to be in a romantic relationship before she was ready, who did not understand the nuance of the world of Romeo and Juliet as a seventh-grader, and that the young couple were not role models. In this production men, women, and non-binary characters are constantly working to re-invent themselves into more evolved individuals both within and outside of relationships. At the end of the show, the grandmother and I were crying, along with most of the audience. This was the version of Shakespeare’s play our younger selves needed. Hopefully, this is the version of Juliet that a new generation will be introduced to, before exploring the wonderous language of Romeo and Juliet.
Later in the week, I found myself with a free night, so I got tickets to a second performance of the musical. This time I could take in the detailed costumes and amazing choreography. I was also lucky to see different cast members in some of the featured parts and understand how each performer made the character his/her/their own.