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‘What will Tom Holland do next?’ has been a perennial question ever since the still alarmingly youthful Brit announced he was taking a break from Peter Parker after the mind-boggling success of his stint playing Spider-Man in the MCU.
‘Star in quite a lot of ropey streamer films’ is the literal answer. But having got that out of his system, it’s a joy to announce that Holland will be hitting the West End stage this May to star as Romeo in super-director Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’.
Though Spider-Man fame came for Holland so early that he’s never done any stage acting as an adult, this won’t in fact be his first time in the West End. As a youngster he was in ‘Billy Elliot the Musical’ for two whole years. A valuable formative experience, though this will be something else entirely. He’s never done Shakespeare before, and he’s certainly never worked with a director like the boundary-pushing Lloyd, who mixes populism and the avant-garde in a thrilling mix, and is currently on something of a career-high after his jaw-droppingly good revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Sunset Boulevard’ last year. Expect a stripped-back, confrontational modern dress take that aggressively drags the story into the present.
There’s no word on further casting, but clearly we all know who the big draw’s going to be.
Booking will open on Tuesday February 13 at noon; or sign up here and you can buy your tickets at 8am.
‘Romeo & Juliet’ is at the Duke of York’s Theatre, May 11-Aug 3.
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