Juliet & Romeo to play the Ustinov Studio as Lost Dog make a welcome return to Bath

Juliet & Romeo visits Bath’s Ustinov Studio from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th November starring Solène Weinachter, who won the National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Modern Performance in 2019, and Kip Johnson, leading light in the world of contemporary dance and dance theatre.

Visiting Bath for the first time, Lost Dog’s witty version of Shakespeare’s teenage love story has played to sell out audiences all over the UK since 2018.

Juliet & Romeo presents a world in which Shakespeare’s tragic teenagers survive, get married, have a child and are now in marriage guidance counselling… with the audience set in listening mode. Written and directed by Ben Duke, the show has been performed to thousands of people at theatres, studios, village halls, and community centres, delighting audiences and critics alike with its clever portrayal of a middle aged couple stuck with the legacy of their early fame and struggling with the surprising unlikelihood of their current future.  

With Lost Dog’s blend of dance, theatre and comedy, this duet takes on our cultural obsession with youth and our inevitable issues with longevity in a show conceived by Olivier Award nominated Ben Duke, which visits Bath hot on the heels of the company’s recent lauded visit with Paradise Lost. 

“Ben Duke’s handling of this material is beautifully assured.  His writing is fast, inventive and smart; the interleaving of movement, text and music is expertly paced.” - Guardian

Solène Weinachter, who plays Juliet, trained in Lyon, France and the London Contemporary Dance School. She has worked with Scottish Dance Theatre, Lost Dog, Gecko Theatre Company, and most recently Vera Tussing Projects. She is also a founding member of Collective Endeavours, a Glasgow-based music and dance improv collective.

Playing the role of Romeo, originated by Ben Duke, Kip Johnson said: “Juliet & Romeo is an emotional rollercoaster of a piece that moves from the mundanities of everyday domestic relationships to regret, betrayal and distorted love. It’s a beautiful, humorous and heartbreaking ride; I’m relishing the challenge it offers as a performer.”

Kip Johnson graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2009 and has since worked with a number of contemporary dance companies and theatre companies including Lea Anderson, Vincent Dance Theatre, Gecko, Protein Dance, Ultima Vez and Fevered Sleep. 

Director Ben Duke has choreographed and directed works for Rambert, Scottish Dance Theatre, Dance Umbrella, Phoenix Dance Theatre and has performed with National Theatre of Scotland, Hofesh Shechter Company, The Gate Theatre, Probe, Glyndebourne Opera and Punchdrunk. Goat, his Nina Simone-inspired piece for Rambert, was nominated for a 2018 Olivier Award and a 2019 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Modern Choreography. In 2017 Ben Duke’s Goat appeared at the Theatre Royal Bath as part of Rambert’s autumn tour. Earlier this year, Ben performed at the Ustinov Studio in Lost Dog’s Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me).

Juliet & Romeo is produced by Lost Dog, the theatre company formed in 2004 by Ben Duke and Raquel Meseguer. In 2019 Lost Dog was nominated for the Best Independent Company Award at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Prior to that, Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) won its writer, performer and Lost Dog co-founder, Ben Duke, the 2016 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance, the 2017 Rural Touring Award, and a nomination for the 2016 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance. Lost Dog’s earlier accolades include winning The 2005 Bonnie Bird UK New Choreographers Award for The Drowner and the 2011 Bloomberg Place Prize Award for It Needs Horses. 

Juliet & Romeo appears at the Ustinov Studio from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th November. To book tickets contact the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov