
Romeo & Juliet:
The Confessions
Written by Frank Bramwell
ABOUT THE PLAY
Ever fundamentally wondered why, considered what might also have happened, or thought . . . what really did take place in Verona?
This is the story of Romeo & Juliet, the play written by William Shakespeare - but not as told by him. These are the confessions of The Friar, The Nurse, & Juliet Capulet - as told by themselves.
Their stories, after 400 years, can now be finally told.
Winner of the Birmingham Fest "Best Adaptation" Award 2021
First performed: Birmingham Fest, July 2021, Buxton Fringe, July 2021
Cast and creative team
Cast:
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Juliet (Birmingham): Vicky Holding
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Juliet (Buxton): Natalie Lewis
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Friar Lawrence: Alex Nikitas
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Nurse: Gerry Johnson
Creative team:
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Director: Marcus Fernando
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Producer: Frank Bramwell
Production photos

Video clips

Reviews
"Vicky Holding’s Juliet, adorned in her post-mortem, lavish, cream-silken wedding gown, addresses her post-suicide, bier-laid, black-laced corpse. Holding’s Juliet addresses her black-laced, candle-lit corpse with furious disbelief and articulacy way beyond her years – but that’s playwright, Frank Bramwell’s, teenage rage, pre-Social Media Shakespeare inimitable style."
The Reviews Hub
"Director, Marcus Fernando leaves an indelible touch on this production doing what the best of directors do – not getting in the way of what is so good to begin with."
The Reviews Hub
"Bramwell's reimagined characters Shakespeare, rattle and stroll through a Scrabble-fest of re-purposed quotations and contemporaneous-imagined prose."
The Reviews Hub
"Alex Nikitas’ character keeps us guessing as to whether his equivocating, rehearsed submissions to the prince are weasel-word faux blame-shifting or truly meant."
The Reviews Hub
"And as for Nurse (Gerry Johnson) no self-denial sophistry here. Her near manic monologues find ambiguous solace lullaby-lamenting a rag-doll substitute for her long-dead baby, Susan. Johnson not so much tugs at the heartstrings as knits them up in barbed-wire despair."
The Reviews Hub
"This production screams for a Fringe run. It would certainly kick kilt in Edinburgh."
The Reviews Hub
"Bramwell, ingeniously well versed and prose-soaked in both source text and wider references, plays fast and louche with his wordplay."
The Reviews Hub
"Take Romeo and Juliet (well, Juliet – Romeo is dead) and create a situation where you will see things from a new point of view. ‘Inamoment Theatre’ does this and reveals the perspectives of the Friar and the Nurse. We also get the thoughts of Juliet when she learns of Romeo’s death."
Brian Kirman
"The story was told from each participant's point of view and despite little interaction between them the continuity was good and the cast was intense and convincing throughout."
Brian Kirman
"If you have even a passing acquaintance with the original and would be interested to see a well performed and different take on the ending then this show is highly recommended."
Brian Kirman
"There are critics who disapprove of ‘mucking about with Shakespeare’ but giving a new and fresh insight to a familiar play can enrich appreciation of the original."
Brian Kirman
"I was assured that two thirds of the dialogue is Shakespeare’s even if selection and sequencing was subject to ‘modification’. Hence we get Juliet’s most famous lines, “Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo” spoken over his corpse, which I think works just as well."
Brian Kirman












