My name is Juliet.
My name is Romeo.
Romeo and I are going through a rough patch at the moment.
'Juliet and Romeo' is a version of Romeo and Juliet
but it's a kind of sequel I suppose.
It's a version in which Romeo and Juliet don't die.
They survive and they escape together to Paris.
We tried a lot of things to help our marriage.
Like psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, Ayahuasca,
sweat lodges, non-violent communication...
Did I miss one out?
-Couples massage. -Couples massage.
And it's about their relationship, they're now approaching middle age.
They've got a child. Life is a bit more complicated
and they are slightly troubled
by this ideal relationship that they had at the beginning
and they are coming to terms with their new relationship
and the fact that they are struggling in that relationship.
The inspiration behind it was, I think there were two things.
I think I was interested in talking about relationships
and in talking about longer term relationships
and how I feel like we're still quite unrealistic
about what a relationship means
as it stretches, you know, past 10-15 years
what that looks like and how we are still fed a lot of stories
about the beginning of relationships
and this ideal of, kind of, soulmates coming together.
So I wanted to look at that
and make a piece that was examining the nature of relationships
and then I felt like Romeo and Juliet was a good vehicle for that
because it's a story that we have taken very much to heart
and we hold it up as... I think it has a big impact on our culture
and on how we look at relationships.
It seems that it's a piece that allows people
to think about their own relationships
and I think it's probably a piece that's seen differently
depending on whether you're... at what stage of life you are
and I think that again it's a piece that everyone knows the story
so that everyone knows what we're kind of messing with.
Come bitter conduct.
Come unsavoury guide.
Thou desperate pilot now at once run on
the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark.
Here's to my love. He drinks.
Here's to my love.
It seems to me that that idea of Romeo and Juliet
like if you're not willing to lay down your life
for this person you're in love with
then, you know, what kind of relationship is that?
As if this is an ideal that really none of us can live up to
but we still attach significance to it.