Lost Dog and The Place Present JULIET & ROMEO

Juliet and Romeo have been married for 25 years; they still love each other, it's just that sometimes they wish the other one were dead. First performed to wide-spread critical acclaim, including a Critics' Circle Award nomination for Solène Weinachter in the titular role, Juliet & Romeo is from Lost Dog, who previously came to the Fringe with the multi-award winning and Total Theatre Award nominated Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me). Artistic Director Ben Duke (Olivier Award nominated for Goat) has conceived and directed the inventive dance-theatre piece, and performs as Romeo. Imagining what would have happened if Shakespeare's passionate teenagers had lived to become confused adults with a daughter of their own, Juliet & Romeo combines witty text with dance, music and humour as the once-happy couple try to re-kindle their romantic passion.

Ben Duke said, "Romeo is in the middle of a mid-life crisis; he is trying to let go of the passionate teenager he was and become a Man. But he doesn't have any clear idea of what that Man should be so he is in limbo. Juliet is very attached to the extraordinary teenager she was and is finding the ordinariness of her current life a struggle. When I say my final farewell to Romeo after the Edinburgh Fringe dates, I will miss him. At least I would if I could escape him. I'm worried that he is me and as annoying as he is I can't outrun him...."

Juliet & Romeo is part of The Place's third biennial showcase at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe alongside Amy Bell's The Forecast, also at Dance Base. In addition to the showcase, this will be the fifth year The Place has supported dance at the Fringe through its sponsorship of the Total Theatre Award for Dance.

Ben Duke is the Artistic Director of Lost Dog, which was formed in 2004 by Ben Duke and Raquel Meseguer. The company last came to the Fringe with Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me), which was nominated for a Total Theatre Award, and won Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance 2016 and the Rural Touring Award 2017. It was also nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Award. Previously the company has won the Bonnie Bird UK New Choreographers Award (2005) for The Drowner; the Bloomberg Place Prize Award 2011 for It Needs Horses.

Outside of Lost Dog, Ben's most recent piece for Rambert, Goat, was nominated for a 2018 Olivier Award and a Critics' Circle National Dance Awards award for Best Modern Choreography. Ben has directed and choreographed works for Rambert, Scottish Dance Theatre, Dance Umbrella, Phoenix Dance Theatre and has performed with Probe, Hofesh Shechter Company, The Gate Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, Glyndebourne Opera and Punchdrunk.

Solène Weinachter has worked with Scottish Dance Theatre, Lost Dog, Gecko Theatre Company, and most recent Vera Tussing Projects. She is also a founding member of Collective Endeavours, a Glasgow-based music and dance improv collective.

Running Time: 70 mins | Suitable for ages 13+

lostdog.co.uk | www.theplace.org.uk