Flabbergast Theatre will be heading to Wilton’s Music Hall in London from 10th – 21st June 2025 with their bold and innovative new production of Romeo and Juliet. We sat down with director Henry Maynard to discuss this exciting new production.
Q: Flabbergast is known for pushing Shakespeare into bold, unexpected territory — what excited you most about reimagining Romeo and Juliet through your particular lens?
I think finding a way to truly express the tragedy of the piece, it is a hyper violent world in which love finds a way against the odds to blossom briefly before being swiftly and brutally crushed. The tragedy is foretold and yet we still root for the young lovers as their worlds fall apart. It’s also a highly patriarchal world in which a young woman attempts to claim her agency despite the pressures placed on her. We are using Butoh to explore the themes of death and decay alongside our irreverent use of Buffon and Clown add to that Greek tragedy and I think we have an exciting recipe.
Q: This version promises everything from live music and mask work to bawdy humour and swashbuckling physicality. How do you approach blending these elements without losing the emotional core of the story?
Shakespeare is simply fantastic for physical theatre; in fact, I think it benefits from it. Shakespeare drew from the Italian half masked tradition of Commedia Dell Arte in which troupes of travelling players toured the countryside it was an immensely physical endeavour and if I’m honest I prefer that style to the talking heads that often exemplifies how Shakespeare is performed in the UK, we can be too reverent of Shakespeare here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bit of a verse purist (because it has so much to give) but there is so much opportunity elsewhere. Mercutio and the Nurse are as bawdy as they come, and we use polyphonic singing to lift and heighten the emotions in a way that is complementary rather than distracting.
Q: Your productions often feel more like immersive experiences than traditional theatre — how do you want audiences to feel during and after this Romeo and Juliet?
I want to supply catharsis through the journey that we take with Juliet, I want to really find truth in the expression of tragedy, to feel buoyed by the beauty and poeticism and frustrated by the petty violence that leads to the death of our friends… I don’t believe in the polite bourgeois world of theatre in which we sit quietly in the dark and clap ourselves on the back for being cultured (but bored). I want to be transgressive, to provoke thought and reaction, not for the sake of it but because that is what I feel theatre is or should be.
Q: You have worked all over the world with Flabbergast. How have those international experiences shaped your approach to storytelling and Shakespeare?
I am hugely influenced by the pedagogy of Jaques Lecoq as well as the research carried out at the Grotowski Institute, I adore Mike Alfred’s book ‘Different Every night’ and the clown work of and Phillipe Gaulier. We have been working in Commedia Dell A’rte recently and Butoh features in our research. I am a magpie for styles and influences and I think that our work is richer for it. I have created and performed Clown shows in Australia, immersive shows in the Caribbean, circus in America, Cabaret in Egypt and puppetry shows in Africa amongst many other amazing opportunities. Every place brings something new and exciting and is reflected in our work in some way or other.
Q: Flabbergast’s ensemble style is a huge part of your identity. What does working so closely with a physical ensemble unlock that traditional productions might miss?
Our approach is truly ensemble; as a company we try to foster development of our members including platforming their own individual work, we develop closely together in residencies – cleaning and eating together. This is evident in the relationships on stage, something that is nigh on impossible to create with a new group of people in four weeks of rehearsal. Yes, companies can get on (or not) but true ensemble takes years to develop (something that Stanislavski was acutely aware of). Movement together is a vital part of building trust and creating truly intimate connections between our members, it also stretches actors comfort zones allowing them to truly embody the larger-than-life characters in Shakespeare. We work through an extensive and collaborative devising process that often uses trance and exhaustion to provoke improvisations that take us away from the mundane and into the world of the sacred and profane. I try to encourage the creative vision of the ensemble to help us to find unusual and wonderful alternatives to naturalism seeking subconscious expressions of creativity to keep away from the staid and polite.
Q: For audiences who think they already know Romeo and Juliet, what would you say this production reveals that they might not have seen — or felt — before?
I really hope the visceral and unnecessarily cruel world that the lovers inhabit will be evident. I think our production will provide a fractured lens through which to view the play that will highlight elements that might remain hidden otherwise. I would be very happy if we could achieve a level of communion with our audiences.
Flabbergast Theatre: Romeo and Juliet will be performed at Wilton’s Music Hall from the 10th to the 21st of June. Tickets available HERE.