Writer: Peter Bradley in conversation with participants from Nottingham People’s Choir
Director: Peter Bradley
Set and Costume Designer: Lauren Connolly
Movement Director: Natasha Harrison
Choir Leader: Abi Moore
Lighting Designer: Oliver Read
Production Manager: Julian Cree
Producer: Ian Wainwright
Company: The Royal Shakespeare Company
Alistair Conquers Studio, College Street Nottingham
Photos: Lauren Connolly

Capulets and Candyfloss was developed with and for community members in Nottingham.
The Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with Nottingham Theatre Royal & Concert Hall, worked with the Nottingham People’s Choir, backed by singers from Nottingham Voice Collective, to create their own version of Romeo and Juliet as part of Shakespeare Nation. This was an adult participation project in direct response to the UK tour of the RSC’s 2019 production of Romeo and Juliet. The project saw our community members explore themes of love, loss, and life as we explored ideas through sharing stories.

Colours of Red and Green were key in helping us clarify which characters belonged to which family for our audiences and the design saw us collectively deciding to set the piece within Nottingham’s famous Goose Fair, an annual fair, under the lights of the longest standing ride, the Carousel. Taking further inspiration from Casa Di Guilietta in Verona, where people leave love letters inscribed on the walls of the tunnel leading up to the balcony, our entryway into the performance space had the audience walk down a metal-clad ramp, through a tunnel-like wall where our participants had left their mark, which then opened up into the fairground with the carousel suspended overhead.