Russell Kane to make his stage acting debut

...as Shakespeare's Romeo

Russell Kane is to make his professional stage acting debut this autumn – playing Romeo.

The stand-up has previously performed mock-Shakespearean verse as part of his stand-up, but the new production at the New Vic theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme is the real deal.

This new version comes with a twist as the star-crossed lovers are both in their forties, rather than being teenagers as the Bard originally indeed.

Director Jimmy Fairhurst, artistic director of theatre company Not Too Tame, said: ‘In early R&D we discovered that ageing the families up unlocks something powerful and painfully familiar for modern audiences. I guarantee it will be as funny as it is heartbreaking.’

The New Vic is a theatre in the round, and Fairhurst says that format will play a significant part in the production. ’The audience will be heavily involved,’ he says. ’Buckle up.’

Theresa Heskins, artistic director of the New Vic, called the production ‘an unapologetically bold reinterpretation of this classic play’.

It will run from September 17 to October 10 and tickets go on sale next Wednesday, March 25. Other casting, including who will be his Juliet, has yet to be announced.

Kane has previously written an Edinburgh Fringe play performed in what he calls ‘Fakespeare’ style – imagining if everyone in his Southend-on-Sea home town spoke in 16th Century blank verse, and sometimes demonstrates it on social media: