ROMEO & JULIET

The tragedy begins long before Romeo and Juliet meet.

This is not Verona. This is an imagined Country where ceremony, song and story carry the memory of a people.

Once the Capulets who are the children of Father Sky and the Montagues, the guardians of Mother Earth, shared a Sacred Songline. But when the ceremony was broken, the Songline was fractured. The clans turned against each other, beginning a feud that would last for generations. As the people remain divided, Country itself begins to suffer.

Then Romeo and Juliet meet.

They did not create the hatred between their families. They simply inherited it. But their forbidden love awakens something that has been forgotten. A song, a connection and a memory that could bring their people back together.

Co-directed by acclaimed First Nations artists Isaac Drandić and Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Romeo & Juliet reimagines Shakespeare’s timeless love story through a powerful First Nations lens. Featuring a magnificent First Nations cast, a soaring score sung in the Turrbal language and breathtaking choreography, this is a dreaming fairytale about love, Country, spirit and survival.

They inherited the hatred. Their love awakens the song.

Queensland Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Tim Fairfax AC and Gina Fairfax AC for Romeo & Juliet.