THON TO BRING ROMEO & JULIET TO THE SCREEN
Narrator, which tech wizard and producer Metcalfe will edit into the picture, which eaming in Valentine’s week e had plastic screens in front of us for earsals,’ said Emily, who was raised in on and Somerset. ‘But then we got tested isolated from the others, because you t have Romeo and Juliet without touching, out a kiss.’ e agreed with a comment Tutty made to bout the kiss feeling illicit, because it took e when we were being bombarded with warnings about keeping your distance. Redpath studied theatre and performance at Queen Mary University in East London and was a keen member of its theatre company.
She explored the art of clowning and the methods of Commedia dell’Arte — taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, where part of the act included serenading the audience while sitting on their laps. Another gig was a cereal affair called Po*n Flakes. ‘Clowning gives you the freedom to mess up,’ she laughed, ‘and realise it’s OK. It definitely gave me confidence.’ She’d avoided Shakespeare at school, so hadn’t read Romeo And Juliet until she was working on her audition tape.
‘When I was younger, I wanted to do Medea,’ she told me. But she took to Shakespeare once she dug deep into Juliet. ‘She’s a bold, impassioned character — though also a bit of a stroppy teenager,’ she said. ‘That’s why she finds Romeo so exciting. He’s wrong, but he’s right.’
Working with Tutty was fun, too; particularly when they were actually together in the same frame. ‘We looked at each other close up and he was like: “Oh, you’ve got brown eyes!”’ Redpath had seen Dear Evan Hansen, the musical in which Tutty plays the title character, before the pandemic, and long before they knew each other. ‘Sam’s understudy was on, and I didn’t see him. But I’d love to go back when he’s playing again. After all, he’s been my Romeo.’
Romeo And Juliet will be streamed on www.romeojuliet2021.com from February 13-20. Tickets available from 10am today at www. romeojuliet2021.com/tickets; with a portion of sales going to Acting For others.