When “& Juliet,” a jukebox musical continuation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” first premiered in 2019, the progressive and poppy musical found itself in a welcoming culture. Six years later, much of that culture has shifted and the musical now seems primed for backlash. In the play, Juliet wakes from her attempted suicide to travel to Paris, hang out with her “besties” and claim her own destiny. Meanwhile, a fourth-wall-breaking William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway wrestle over control of Juliet’s narrative, a dynamic that frequently entails heavy-handed social commentary.
If that sounds like a remnant of the 2015 era of “girl power” feminism, that’s because “& Juliet” is refreshingly comfortable with its identity as an inherently political piece of art. Still, the question of whether or not its quality can overcome its inherently controversial narrative remains.
The show is populated by a diverse array of performances. Cleveland native Nick Graves shines as May, a sometimes comedic but often sincere best friend for Juliet. Paul Jordan Jansen as Lance and Kathryn Allison as Juliet’s nurse provide support and an entertaining side-plot. Rachel Simone Web also delivers an energetic and emotional performance as the titular Juliet. Other performances, like Shelby Griswold as Anne Hathaway, were not as revelatory. Even in lesser moments of acting, however, the musical is maintained by the infectious energy of its cast.
The plot is where the musical faces its greatest struggle. Throughout the first hour, the primary plot revolves around Juliet and her crew dancing through a random visit to Paris. All this is entertaining, but it is hard to shake the feeling that, an hour in, the play script should have more of a grasp on its characters, their motivations and what the ultimate purpose of the narrative is.
Act 2 improves substantially. Here, the curtain is pulled back, revealing a clever twist that better explains Act 1. Still, while Act 2 is emotionally effective, it is also overstuffed. At times, the music gets overwhelming and feels superfluous. Moreover, for a play so focused on progressive politics, the script’s messages are often muddled. For example, the script insists that the specifics of May’s gender identity are not important, only to have May sing multiple ballad’s about their femininity.
At other points, the script appears torn between whether or not it wants to tear Romeo down. All this amounts to a journey with flashes of brilliance, but is often hard to follow among its barrage of jokes, fourth-wall breaks, sudden musical numbers and messy messaging.
By riffing off of Shakespeare, “& Juliet” puts itself in direct competition with one of the greatest playwrights of all time. In that context,“& Juliet” fails to live up to its predecessor. If a spectator views the play how it wants to be viewed, as a different play entirely, it is far easier to forgive. “& Juliet” may not be Shakespeare, but when viewed as a simple, Gen Z comedy, there are worse ways to spend a night in Cleveland.