An inventive new version of Romeo And Juliet, featuring original rap songs, has its world premiere at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre next month. Director Corey Campbell tells What’s On why the fresh take on Shakespeare’s classic tragedy is an example of the theatre’s ongoing co-creation model at its best.

A brand-new adaptation of Romeo And Juliet, featuring an original score that contains rap, R&B and soul music, will have its world premiere at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre next month. 

One of the theatre’s flagship in-house productions, the show is part of a new strand of work which sees the venue collaborate with the local community, reinforcing its stated commitment to the process of co-creation.

The show, which is being co-produced with Bristol Old Vic and the Hackney Empire, has been a community-led project from the outset, according to the Belgrade’s creative director, Corey Campbell.

“Romeo And Juliet is a great example of how our approach to co-creating with our communities can work in practice. We had already been running workshops in Coventry’s Extended Learning Centres (ELCs) when we started discussing the idea of creating a rap theatre production with a new local company called That’s A Rap. The company is all about challenging the way theatre incorporates rap as an artistic form, so we brought the two together, and now the young people from the ELCs are co-creating songs for the show.”

Corey, who will direct the production, says it will follow the traditional script of the lyrical love story. By including rap and R&B, he aims not only to appeal to people who love the music of the spoken word, but also to provide the play with a contemporary resonance and relevance for younger audiences.

“The production will follow and respect Shakespeare’s text, but the songs will add a layer of context, to ground it in a world that is recognisable for today’s young people. 

“I’m from a very working-class background, and often times when it comes to classical work, it’s looked on as if we can’t do it. I wanted young people from the ELCs to see that there’s a way of delivering this work which doesn’t make it feel like a foreign language.”

Corey says approaching it from a new angle wasn’t just about helping young people connect with the classic text, but audiences in general.

“Regardless of the rap and the music, I want them to see there’s a style that we can create where the rhythm, language and stress-points will make [the text] sound as familiar to you as our conversation now.”

He also says the youngsters brought fresh insights and contemporary perspectives that have impacted the tone, style and way the piece will be performed.

“Working with them, I’ve been struck by Romeo’s obsession with ending the violence that surrounds him.

Growing up around rival gangs in Birmingham, I often saw fragile peace grow out of romantic relationships between members of clashing groups.”

Politics - with a capital P - will also play a central role, with the Montagues and Capulets portrayed as opposing political parties rather than families. 

“There’s a layer of politics that’s already there and we’re exploiting it. This is where we’ll continue co-creating with audiences every night. They’ll be able to vote for which of the ‘dignified’ households they’d like to see take charge.”

Attitudes to Mantua - the city that Romeo is banished to - and its working-class people “who pay for what the privileged do” are also part of the mix, as is the way politicians’ words can have an instant impact on the streets.

“It makes this work all the more potent,” says Corey, citing a number of examples, including the storming of the US Capitol Building in January 2021 and far-right violence in London in November 2023, events arguably triggered by the comments of Donald Trump and Suella Braverman respectively.

“That’s the world that we’ve created, but it’s been identified by the young people in these schools and we’re taking their lead. It’s been incredible.”

And with musical numbers at the heart of everything (“it’s definitely all-singing, all-dancing but with that deep layer of classical verse”), the show will also be quite a spectacle. “Our creative team is very exciting, and you best believe the choreography, the movement, the dancing and the singing is all gonna be on point.”

Ticking all those boxes makes it quite a challenge for the cast. “The dialogue goes straight into the rap and the songs, which is a big ask of an actor, and a new ask of an actor,” he admits, suggesting their closest reference point is the musical Hamilton, “but that’s very sing-song in its rhythmic rap, whereas this is slightly more drill.”

Corey also hopes, and expects, the show will find its feet - and an audience - more readily than the ‘hip-hop Shakespeare’ of performers such as rapper Akala that he remembers from his youth.

“Back then, rap wasn’t as popular in culture as it is now. People just saw it as violent expression as opposed to the deep expression that was in the work. But I believe we’re really on to something special.

The two lads from That’s A Rap, Corey Weekes (‘Corey 2.0’) and Kieren Hamilton-Amos, are on a development journey with the Belgrade and are just so talented - we’re gonna unlock what they call new-form poetics. It’s a really exciting time.”

That excitement includes the success of Swim Aunty Swim!, the Belgrade in-house production that was recently named Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards.

“It feels great to be producing work at that level,” says Corey, who sees the national recognition as testament to all the work that has been going on under the radar for years.

“We’re now producing work that’s of national significance, and people around the country are actually travelling to the Belgrade these days, which is fantastic. The other part of it, which is just as important, is the work we’re doing in schools, the work we’re doing with community, and our co-creation model, which I believe is ground-breaking. Works like Romeo And Juliet and Swim Aunty Swim! don’t come around unless we’re in our communities, because they’re from our communities.”

Feature by Steve Adams

Romeo And Juliet shows at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre from Friday 21 February to Saturday 8 March