WHEREFORE ART THOU ROMEO?
How Freddie Fox became the star of a real-life drama
ON MO N D AY evening, director Kenneth Branagh was worried that he had a real tragedy on his hands — one outlandish even by Shakespeare’s standards. Sir Ken is direc ting Romeo and Juli et at the Garrick Theatre, and by the beginning of this week, just over two months into the play’s run, he had lost not one but two male leads. To lose one tragic hero may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. How had it happened?
Game o f Thrones ac t o r Ri c ha rd Madden was cast originally as the male lead, but was forced to take a break from the show last week after hurting his ankle while out running. He is undergoing physiotherapy and has be e n a dv is e d by do c t o r s to re s t . Understudy Tom Hanson, who had been cast as Paris, duly replaced him — and then hurt his own leg, and also had t o wi th d r aw. In the bathetic understatement of the week the theatre said it was an “unfortunate set of circumstances”. Presumably, there is a plague on both their houses.
But t he show must go on — t he balcony scene really loses its potency if Juliet is hollering “wherefore art thou Romeo” towards an empty spotlight. Accordingly, it was announced on Monday e ve ni n g th a t 2 7-ye a r- o l d Fr e d d i e Fo x wo ul d b e the next replacement.
A press release affected ca l m. “Freddie Fox will be sharing the role of Romeo with Richard Madden,” it reported. “Madden continues to make a good recovery after injuring hi s ankle.” Fox would “join the company from Tuesday 26 July, following a period of intensive rehearsals... over the last 48 hours”.
“I am really pleased to be joining Lily, Derek, Meera and the company,” Fox said. “I look forward to continuing the exciting work that Richard and Tom h ave c reated in thi s wonderful production, and to bringing my own experience and passion for the role of Romeo.”
We were also assured that Fox had recently played the role of Romeo in a production that ran at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre, for which eggheads know he won third prize in the 2015 Ian Charleson Awards.
But ticket holders were sceptical. Third i sn’t first, some thought waspishly. Others were baffled: how would he have had time to perfect the lines again? Granted, the words don’t change but the staging of this production would be totally different. Some who had booked to see Game of Thro ne s ac t o r Madden ha d be e n disappointed by the first replacement, and were despondent by this second.
Moreover, rapport between the leads is crucial to the success of the play: luckily Fox and Lily James, who is playing Juliet, are drama school friends — but pints and parties are different to co-starring in a Shakespearean tragedy on the West End stage. While some kindly observed that Fox’s boyish looks would pl ay well opposite Ja mes’s b e au ti f u l Juliet — espec ially in a production that employs Vespas and electropop — purists pointed out that Romeo is meant to be older than his bride. Plus, surely, the pressure would overwhelm the young lad?
Apparently not. Tu e s d ay ’s performance was unilaterally agreed to be a triumph. The tweets started during the interval. “For a man who’s stepped in at the last minute Freddie Fox is unbelievably slick. Awesome
sword play!! #IntervalTweet,” tweeted one user. By the curtain’s fall, others were fangirling over his performance. “Freddie Fox didn’t just have to learn the lines in 48 hours. He had to learn the blocking, the stage combat, everything. He’s a power house ,” tweeted another user. “Freddie Fox was wonderful,” said yet another, attaching a besotted heart-eyes emoji. Some used all caps: “FREDDIE FOX WAS AMAZING AS ROMEO OMFG”.
Others in the audience were impressed by the harmony between the leads (“Lily James and Freddie Fox nailed it last night in Romeo & Juliet. What a performance”), while some fans suggested Fox deserved an award for his performance. One effusive message crowned him a “hero”.
The cast and crew were similarly impressed. James, covered in fake blood (spoiler alert), leapt into his arms at the end of the show. Director Branagh delivered a speech in which he paid testament to his agile cast and crew, who had responded calmly and professionally to the upheavals. He singled out Fox for his hard work and talent.
“Hats off to Freddie Fox,” Branagh told the Standard last night. “The atmosphere was electric on Tuesday, and he did a supreme job. I am very proud of him and indeed the whole company.”
FOX gave a strong, passionate and vulnerable performance ,” confirms trainee psycho therapist Kate Robertson, who saw the show on Tuesday. “He and Lily James complemented each other beautifully. He was a true professional.” She says the atmosphere in the theatre was “warm, full of excitement and anticipation”, and that Branagh’s speech was “very funny and apologetic ”.
One devoted theatregoer called it “the most lucid and sensual production of the play that I’ve seen in 30 years of concerted theatre-going.”
The happy ending is just the sort of cheering tale we need in a summer of relentless horror. That it comes, indirectly, from such a morbid play — one which crescendoes into a double suicide — makes the pleasure all the more poetic.
Furthermore, happily, the story denies the usual nasty narrative about Theatreland, which is all too often presented as a jealous, envious environment where actors compete to mistreat each other, or to disrespect the crew. Usually, there are whispers about sworn enemies and backstage misadventures, or waspish comments leaked to gossip columns about poor performance so run professionalism on set. But Fox’s new castmates have been encouraging. Meera Syal, who is playing the bawdy nurse, retweeted the announcement that he was to take over from Hanson, in as how of support. It is a testament to Branagh’s production, and al soap leasing example of how a cast and crew can think fast, and as one brain.
Of course, it helps that Shakespeare runs in both London’s and Fox’s blood. Earlier this month the actor hosted an evening of Shakespeare readings on the terrace at Mark’s Club alongside Morfydd Clark, who played Juliet in his previous run of the play. His parents, actors Edward and Joanna Fox, presented an evening of Shakespeare’s sonnets at the Senate House Library last month.
On a similar note, the upheavals come at a time when London understudies are seeing their star moments, attesting to the number of talented actors waiting in the wings of the capital’ s theatres. No ma Dumezweni stepped in for lead Kim Cattrall in Linda — just in time to get her noticed for the Hermione casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. And Sheridan Smith’s under study, Natasha Barnes, got rave reviews after she stepped into her lead role in Funny Girl. Perhaps this will push Fox up a rung on the showbiz ladder?
Meanwhile, his fans are in paroxysms( and are presumably hoping that Madden recovers slowly). On Tuesday night one fan Instagrammed a picture of herself and Fox, captioned, “on the way to the Garrick, I met Freddie Fox, and died. He said my name properly”, suggesting Fox could be ascending to the heights of stars like Benedict Cumberbatch, whose performance as Hamlet at the Barbican last year pulled in hordes of delirious superfans. They term themselves the Cumberbitches — could Fox have the Foxcubs?
Though he’ll be sharing the role with Madden until the end of the show’s run on August 13, it’s uncertain how the role will be split going forward, and audiences are assured that Madden is recovering well. Perhaps Fox’s moment in the spotlight will be brief — though endorsement by Branagh is priceless in terms of his own reputation. He’d better not break a leg.
‘Hats off to Freddie — the mood was electric. I’m proud of him and indeed, the whole company’