ROMEO AND JULIET: A HATE STORY Presented by Tucano Theatre Productions The Hen & Chickens 26-31 Aug

"A bold and chaotic twist on Shakespeare with two magnetic performances at its heart" ★★★

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has endured countless adaptations, but few are as brazenly chaotic as ROMEO & JULIET: A HATE STORY. Here, the star-crossed lovers are not love-struck teenagers but rival drug dealers, forced into a reluctant alliance to escape a deadly situation. Forget romance - this is a non rom-com brimming with resentment, ridiculousness, and a healthy dose of delinquency.

Writer and performer Lucas Luan Lima, making his UK playwriting debut, has conjured an anarchic reinterpretation that swaps Verona for a world of drugs, dildos, pigs, and high-stakes hustling. Lima himself plays Romeo, a high-octane Brazilian ball of energy whose charisma keeps the momentum hurtling forward. Opposite him, George Bird is a standout - a rising talent with sharp comic instincts and striking dramatic presence. Together, the pair spark well off each other, creating a volatile chemistry that fuels much of the piece’s humour.

The two-hander format is both a strength and a stumbling block. Watching Bird don a bathrobe and puff on a pipe to double as Tybalt is genuinely amusing, while Lima juggling Romeo and the menacing drug baron Laurence in the same scene makes for moments of comic absurdity, but also blurs the story’s clarity. The first half of this play is tightly scripted, entertaining and engaging; the second spirals into a messy and disjointed finale, and its frantic energy tips from gleeful to exhausting.

Director Annie Araba deserves credit for keeping the staging nimble to match the relentlessly quick pace of the script. Direct address to the audience is used sparingly but to great comic effect, and playful theatrical devices - such as characters breaking the fourth wall to complain to the sound technician - add flashes of originality. 

There are joyfully irreverent twists on Shakespeare’s touchstones: Juliet leaning over the balcony and demanding “Where the f**k are you Romeo?” earns a big laugh. Refreshingly, the production avoids the obvious pitfall of forcing the two leads into romance. However, not every creative liberty lands - the tequila substitution for poison feels more laboured than witty, and much of the humour tended towards the laddish.

Ultimately, ROMEO & JULIET: A HATE STORY is a playful romp that knows when to wink at its source material and when to tear it up. The second half may lose its way, but it remains a bold and chaotic twist on Shakespeare with two magnetic performances at its heart. As the first outing from Lima’s Tucano Theatre Productions, it signals an exciting new voice on the London fringe - bringing Latin verve, comedic daring, and a riotous sense of fun. Messy at times, but never dull, this debut proves there’s room for Shakespeare to be torn up and remade with fearless imagination.

ROMEO AND JULIET: A HATE STORY Presented by Tucano Theatre Productions The Hen & Chickens

Instagram: romeojuliet_hate



Creative Team:

Playwright & Producer: Lucas Luan Lima

Director: Annie Araba

Romeo [also Laurence & Paris]: Lucas Luan Lima

Juliet [also Tybalt]: George Bird