A Shakespeare North Playhouse and Graeae co-production in association with Theatre by the Lake. Directed by Jenny Sealey.
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“Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake – it is everything except what it is.”
Against all odds, a young couple fall in love.
An intense, vibrant love that burns and ignites a powder keg within communities already smoldering with tension. Tragic misunderstandings follow, with deadly consequences.
You think you know how this story goes, and who this couple is?
Maybe you do… Maybe you don’t.
This beautiful retelling of Shakespeare’s eternal love story seamlessly weaves BSL, Captions and Audio Description into the storytelling. Each show is performed in a relaxed environment by an incredible ensemble of Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors.
Romeo and Juliet is a collaboration between Graeae and Shakespeare North Playhouse, in association with Theatre by the Lake. Join us as we celebrate differences, challenge preconceptions and shine a light on what ultimately brings us together – love.
A Visual Guide for Theatre by the Lake
Theatre by the Lake Guide – Screen Reader
Watch our trailer
Two families... Montagues and Capulets
Gallery
BSL Summary of the show
Gallery
What audiences are saying...
Meet
Our Cast
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Reece Pantry
Reece Pantry
Screen credits include the roles of BILLY in THEN BARBARA MET ALAN (BBC/Netflix) and SAM in TESTAMENT (Angel Studios).
Theatre credits include OF MICE AND MEN (Birmingham Rep/Leeds Playhouse), HAPPINESS (Cervantes Theatre), THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Maltings Theatre), WHO CARES (Just Add Milk), ONE UNDER (Graeae) and CASINO ROYALE (Secret Cinema).
You can listen to Reece on BBC Radio 4, where he plays PORGY in BESS LOVES PORGY.
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Ciaran Forrest
Ciaran Forrest
Ciaran has been a professional actor since 2018, since graduating from The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.
Outside of acting, he is a writer with a particular focus on poetry, and his other job is self advocacy presentation around disability and autism, working for a organisation called Pathways. Ciaran also enjoys exercise and fitness, and is a passionate animal rights activist.
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Irmina St Catherine
BSL Performance Interpreter
Irmina St Catherine
BSL Performance InterpreterIrmina’s journey into the world of British Sign Language (BSL) began at a young age despite having no deaf family members. Her early interest in BSL blossomed into a passionate career. Today, Irmina is a NRCPD Registered British Sign Language Interpreter based in London. She works across various sectors, with a particular emphasis on theatre, especially in rehearsal room settings.
Irmina’s debut as an integrated interpreter is marked by her role in Romeo and Juliet. Irmina is thrilled to be a part of this innovative production that incorporates British Sign Language into the core of its storytelling. Irmina continues to contribute her expertise and passion to the performing arts, ensuring accessibility and inclusion through her work.
Theatre credits as a performance interpreter: On the Town (St Albans Theatre); Snow Globe (Arcola Theatre
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Kellan Frankland
Kellan Frankland
Kellan has been part of Graeae for nearly a decade including training with Graeae’s Ensemble programme as an actor and Write to Play as a writer. She appeared in House of Bernada Alba at Manchester Royal Exchange for which she was nominated for a Stage Debut award. She performed with Graeae again in And Others at the National Theatre. As a writer she wrote a piece for Graeae’s ‘Crips Without Constraints’ starring Dame Harriet Walter.
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Petre Dobre
Petre Dobre
Petre graduated at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018.
Since then, theatre credits include: The Outrun ( The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company) , Song in Sign (FormidAbility), “Time to Wake Up” (Wake Up Triple Bill, Solar Bear), Sand (Surge), Visual Fun with Sports (Edinburgh Deaf Festival), 9/11 (Macrobert Arts Centre), Heartsore (Macrobert Arts Centre), Class Act (Traverse Theatre), Dinosaurs in Love (Traverse Theatre), Last Woman Left (RCS), Love and Information (Solar Bear), The Jungle Book (RCS).
Other Credits include: Mac, Pip and the Mountain (Scottish Book Trust), Rhythm to my Ears (Solar Reels), Mac, Pip and the Bees (Scottish Book Trust), The Mask of the Cowboy (Unmuted Productions), Contenders (Produced by Catherine Barr).
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Shreya M Patel
Shreya M Patel
Shreya M Patel is a disabled and neurodivergent actress based in North London. Her career started in Leeds when she joined the Leeds Playhouse Young Company in 2018 and attended the Yorkshire School of Acting (now Matt Zina Acting). Recent credits include Perfect (Dave), The Listeners (BBC), Then Barbara Met Alan (BBC), MO <3 KYRA (Film4), Much Ado About Nothing (Sheffield Theatres) and Night Shift (ZooCo Theatre).
Shreya has filmed also two TV shows this year: to be announced soon. She is incredibly excited to be working with Graeae for the first time and is passionate about accessibility for performers and audiences alike in the industry.
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Craig Painting
BSL Performance Interpreter
Craig Painting
BSL Performance InterpreterCraig has recently completed his three-year British Sign Language (BSL) Level 6 Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting & Translation, & works as a NRCPD registered BSL interpreter, across a variety of settings with a variety of clients.
He’s thrilled to be one of two integrated BSL interpreters in Romeo & Juliet & is particularly passionate about BSL being integrated in to the artistic voice & heart of a production. Craig also has a parallel career as an actor across theatre, TV & film, having been involved in many BSL-integrated projects, most notably with BSL Zone, Ramps On The Moon, & Derby Theatre.
Theatre credits as an actor include Oliver Twist (Leeds Playhouse & Ramps On The Moon); Robin Hood (Derby Theatre); Snow White, The Legend of Robin Hood, Holes, & Cinderella, (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Soonchild (Red Earth, UK tour); The Massacre & ’Til We Meet In England (Lost Text/Found Space); Egg (Cahoots Theatre Company); & The Jungle Book & The Firework-Maker’s Daughter (Birmingham Stage Company & UK Tour).
Film & television credits as an actor include Reverberations: The Return; A Teaspoon of Love; DI Ray; Doctors; & Just Charlie
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Rheanon Lee
Rheanon Lee
Recently graduating from the University of Salford with a degree in Comedy Writing and Performance, comedian Rheanon Lee takes on her debut theatre role in Graeae’s Romeo and Juliet.
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Cherie Gordon
Cherie Gordon
Cherie Gordon is an actor, director and writer based in South East London. She graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Drama, Applied Theatre and Education.
Cherie’s TV credits include: BBC’s Reunion, making a milestone in inclusive storytelling, and the BBC provocative comedy drama, Boat Story Theatre credits include: Precious Emily (Stans Cafe), Everyday (Deafinitely Theatre), Summer’s Park Adventure (Music Box Theatre), Messy (Zoo Co Theatre), Others (Graeae Theatre), RENT (The Curve Theatre) and Mother of The Revolution (archipelago).
Film credits include: l Still Blame Myself (Deafinitely Theatre), Listen (BFI Film Academy), Echoes (Brighton Screen and Film School) Director credits include: Bossy (Zoo co Theatre), Getting There (Toucan, Oxford Playhouse and Deafinitely Theatre) and Untitled (film). Cherie is excited to join the cast of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
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Niamh Longford
Niamh Longford
Niamh graduated with a first-class BA (Hons) Acting degree from UCLan and has been lucky to work on screen since. She played lead character May in The Break for BBC Three, which was nominated for a Broadcast Digital award. This character gave Niamh the opportunity to authentically represent partially sighted peoples’ stories.
Her other credits include several episodes of Eastenders as Melody Wiles, Sally Hardy in Doctors and Olivia Devonport in Shakespeare and Hathaway. Niamh has a great facility for accents and is also a trained dancer and choreographer. She is totally thrilled to be able to work on stage professionally for the first time with Graeae, particularly in a Shakespeare production, and in two fabulous theatres.
Meet
Our Creatives
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Jenny Sealey
DirectorJenny Sealey
Director -
Anthony Gough
Assistant Director and AD ConsultantAnthony Gough
Assistant Director and AD Consultant -
Tim Meacock
DesignTim Meacock
Design -
Simisola Majekodunmi
Lighting DesignerSimisola Majekodunmi
Lighting Designer -
Oliver Vibrans
Sound DesignerOliver Vibrans
Sound Designer -
Daryl Jackson
BSL ConsultantDaryl Jackson
BSL Consultant -
Ben Spiller
Shakespeare ConsultantBen Spiller
Shakespeare Consultant -
Liv Barr
CastingLiv Barr
Casting -
Mark Lockyer
Voice CoachMark Lockyer
Voice Coach -
Katie Bosomworth
Company Stage ManagerKatie Bosomworth
Company Stage Manager -
Andrea Claire
Deputy Stage ManagerAndrea Claire
Deputy Stage Manager -
Harry Fearnley-Brown
Production Stage ManagerHarry Fearnley-Brown
Production Stage Manager
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