National Theatre announces further Romeo and Juliet broadcast cast – which will air on TV next year
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage
The National Theatre has unveiled further cast joining Jessie Buckley, Josh O'Connor and Fisayo Akinade in its upcoming televised version of Romeo and Juliet.
Rather than staging the show in the Olivier space (as was initially planned for the summer of 2020), the show will be created as a TV production utilising the Lyttelton theatre as a studio.
The piece is set to be directed by Simon Godwin (Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night), and is adapted for the screen by Emily Burns. Buckley (Chernobyl, Judy) and O'Connor (God's Own Country, The Crown) will take on the titular roles with Akinade (The Antipodes) as Mercutio.
Joining the cast are Deborah Findlay (Coriolanus, The Split) in the role of the Nurse, Tamsin Greig (Twelfth Night, Talking Heads) as Lady Capulet, Lucian Msamati (Master Harold…and the boys, His Dark Materials) as the Friar, Shubham Saraf (A Suitable Boy) as Benvolio, David Judge (My Brilliant Friend) as Tybalt, Alex Mugnaioni (The Visit) as Paris and Ellis Howard (Catherine the Great) as Sampson.
Godwin said: "This has been a uniquely challenging time for the industry and so I have huge respect for Rufus and the team for meeting this challenge with creativity and deciding to use the Lyttelton theatre in this way for filmed work; I think it's a genius idea and I'm honoured to be able to create the first film. I think I speak for myself, the creative team and the cast when I say how delighted we are to be focusing all our creativity into this version of Romeo and Juliet once more.
"Some ideas are staying, lots of new ones are coming in – I'm very excited about this new genre, combining film and theatre, and bringing together the remarkable talents of those industries. And the world will get to see Josh as Romeo and Jessie as Juliet, it had to happen!"
