'In a minute there are many days.'

In Verona, in the height of summer, two young people meet at a party. The rest is tragedy.

Shakespeare's electrifying and timeless tale of love was brought to life in a new production directed by Robert Icke, which premiered at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in 2026. It was produced by Empire Street Productions and starred Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe in their West End debuts.

This edition features the version of the text used in that production, alongside an introduction by the director and an essay by author and academic Daniel Swift.

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'A sharp new spin on a familiar tale... What if Shakespeare's infamous star-cross'd lovers didn't die, but instead lived happily ever after? Icke's production is crammed with tantalising sliding-doors moments... elegantly piercing... liberates the plot from romantic cliché. It emerges as a story steeped in regret and existential doubt – rueful, yearning and infinitely more relatable'

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'Intelligent and heart-wrenching... a production full of closely observed detail, that refuses to take any element of the heady story for granted'

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'Brilliant... Icke's production has a near metaphysical preoccupation with the vagaries of time that lends this most callow of stories a rare gravitas... he repeatedly alerts the audience to the plot's fateful reliance on chance... a richly rewarding evening, with the final scene – so often played as a ghastly melodrama – bringing the theme of different lives hovering just out of reach full circle'

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'Powerful... Rarely has the brutal speed of the play's events, and its juxtaposition of sudden violence and bombshell love, seemed as clear as it does in Icke's staging... so clearly shows a deep understanding of Shakespearean text... dazzling'

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'Icke has brought new life to British theatre... He wakes audiences up to the rhythm of a plot... Here, he shakes up Shakespeare, bringing a fresh sense of urgency and instability to the play as it topples into high romance and tumbles into tragedy'

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'Something special... Robert Icke is a man who thinks more deeply about the meaning of classic texts than half of their authors probably did'

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'Icke is in a league of his own... This is definitely not your traditional Romeo and Juliet... It's clever and original, making this an utterly thrilling vision... slick, focused, and profoundly sincere'

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'Outlandishly joyful... a richly emotional, brilliantly intelligent take on a classic – one that'll plunge a knife into your heart so skilfully that you hardly notice the pain'