Romeo and Juliet play starring Tom Holland given 15 age rating
Romeo & Juliet has been given a 15+ age rating for its new star-studded production in the West End.
Tom Holland, the Spider-Man actor, and newcomer Francesca Amewudah-Rivers appear as the tragic leads in director Jamie Lloyd’s hotly anticipated play at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
The stripped-back production sees all the violence in the tale of the star-crossed lovers being removed and merely implied.
The theatre, however, recommends that only those aged 15 and above come to see it, with audiences warned in an online content note: “The production contains scenes that some audiences might find difficult to watch.”
This places it in a higher age bracket than Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 gun-toting film starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, which featured several characters being shot but only earned a rating of 12A.
A 1968 film adaptation directed by Franco Zeffirelli and narrated by Laurence Olivier broke an established British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) precedent, according to the board’s website, whereby Shakespeare films were rated U for Universal.
John Trevelyan, the then BBFC secretary, shared concerns over nudity in “the love scene” and the sight of corpses in another. It was ultimately placed in the A (Adult) category, which advised that some scenes were unsuitable for young children, before being reclassified PG (Parental Guidance) in 2002.
In Luhrmann’s version, set in modern California, swords were swapped for firearms, and Mercutio and Tybalt are both shot dead.
The BBFC rated it 12A, saying it contains “moderate violence” of stabbings and shootings with some blood visible, though “this is not dwelt upon”.
By comparison, the new West End production is sparse, with no fight scenes taking place on stage and the audience instead being witness to the aftermath of suggested violence. There are no prop weapons and some bloodied costumes are the only signs that any violence has taken place.
The tragedy famously resolves in suicide, warnings of which have become commonplace both in the theatre and on television.
In the new version there is no balcony scene, among the most famous in the Shakespearean canon, with the young lovers simply conversing side by side, rather than Romeo calling up to Juliet.
Actors are also openly wearing microphones, breaking away from a Shakespearean tradition of projecting the lines to the back of the theatre, and instead talking in subtle whispers.
Juliet’s character in the play is 13 years old, with Romeo implied to be a few years older.
Before even being staged the new adaptation caused controversy, with the casting of black actor Amewudah-Rivers drawing criticism from online trolls. In response, hundreds of actors signed a letter in solidarity with her.
Holland has become an international star and lives in London with his partner, Zendaya, most recently known for her role in Challengers.
The new production is not the first to give Shakespeare a trigger warning, with the Globe Theatre in London regularly issuing cautionary notes for its productions.
The theatre recently gave Antony and Cleopatra a trigger warning for “misogynoir” after updating the play with a diverse cast as it announced its summer season.
Notes were also given for Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, alerting audiences to potentially upsetting content including “misogynistic themes”, “racism and offensive language”, and “violence and death”.
Such warnings have become commonplace in the West End, and the show Backstairs Billy, about the late Queen Mother and relationships of her aide, alerted audiences that it contained “language, attitudes and conventions” from the 1970s.
