Romeo & Juliet

From a growing need for hope and connection, Char Li Chung's Romeo and Juliet shows that Shakespeare's world-famous classic is more topical than ever. Shakespeare did not write this story to reassure us, he wrote it to wake us up. For how can you love in a world that has taught you to hate?

The young Romeo and Juliet find themselves on opposite sides of a cultural and religious divide. For generations, their families have past event locked in an all-consuming conflict. But when Romeo and Juliet check each other, they fall in love at first sight. Defying the “ stroom ,” they choose love.

Love as a refusal to accept hatred, as a radical alternative, and as an ode to the possibility of choosing differently. Vulnerable, dangerous, and necessary.

Romeo and Juliet holds up a mirror to us. Not to ask which side you’re on, but whether you’re willing to let go of the role of the enemy.

Last season, director Char Li Chung—known for works such as *The Banana Generation* and *Cock*—staged a highly successful adaptation of Puccini’s classic *Madame Butterfly* in collaboration with writers Vera Morina and Sun Li. For *Romeo and Juliet*, Chung is once again collaborating with Morina, this time
on a contemporary adaptation that stays true to the language of Shakespeare’s original.