Director Ellie Hurt spoke to Damon Fairclough about the Everyman’s new production of Romeo and Juliet.

What are you hoping to bring to this new Everyman version of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays?

The two Shakespeare’s I’ve always wanted to direct are Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. They feel to me like the most accessible for younger people, and I’ve always wanted to do a contemporary version that people could enjoy, understand, and find relatable.

With Romeo and Juliet, I’m really interested in the separation between the adults and young people in the play. The ancient feud between the families was created by older generations, but it trickles down and it ends up being the young people who are caught in the crossfire. They don’t even know why they’re fighting.

I’ve always had this image of a stripped back, contemporary world that feels like now but could also feel timeless and anywhere. And I always knew I wanted to incorporate a lot of music and sound from the get go. Dom Coyote, who is our composer and musical director, is creating an exciting musical world that’s underpinning the whole show.

Will the text be stripped back too?

Yes, we’re editing it at the moment. It’s not a retelling or adaptation – maybe the right word is ‘abridged’? It definitely won’t be longer than two hours. We’re editing it for clarity, for accessibility, and focusing on the heart of the story.

What are the key themes you’ll be hoping to draw out of the play?

Old versus new feels important – old feuds, old traditions, old ways of thinking, versus the young people in the play and the contemporary feel we’re bringing to it. We’re focusing on the challenges between the adults and the younger generation, alongside the cycles of violence and power that have a hold over them all. It’s almost as if, as a group of actors, we’re trying to break these cycles… but they’re powerful! But ultimately, this story is a joyous momentary explosion of young love, so we want it to feel hopeful and full of life and laughter when it can.

You mentioned the importance of the music. How will you be creating the show’s sound world?

We’re going to have lots of live singing and underscoring of the action onstage. Time is really interesting in this story; the play moves incredibly fast over 4 days, so we want to explore how we can either use music to help to propel it along, or use it to slow down time and zoom in on significant moments that change the course of the play.

You’ve had a long-standing connection with the Everyman having come through the YEP Young Directors programme. How did you get the chance to direct Romeo and Juliet here?

It came from a conversation I had with the Everyman team. I did the Young Directors course here, and assisted on some shows here, and then I’ve been away as a freelancer and made the leap over the last few years from assistant to director – it felt to me like the right time to come back.

I’ve learned a lot, and I now know what kind of shows I want to make, the kind of process I want to use, and there are creatives who I love working with, so it felt like the right time to talk to the Everyman about things I’ve always wanted to do.

This is the building that started everything for me!

How did the YEP Young Directors help you?

It was probably the best thing I’ve done for my development as a director. You get to be with a load of other young directors and make connections with other strands of YEP – I had a really good working relationship with Natasha Patel who was on the Young Producers course, and we ended up forming a theatre company together in Liverpool.

It really sets you up not just for the craft of directing and speaking to other directors, but also how to make your own work and exist in the world – the practicalities of it. Having access to a building full of amazing creative people feels really exciting when you’re starting out, and you get a bit of a lift up into the work before you go out and make your own stuff.

What have been your career highlights since you left YEP?

Probably directing Hamlet at the National Theatre. We toured it round primary schools before a run on the Dorfman stage. To be trusted with that was exciting, but actually I think the MOST exciting aspect was doing it in schools all over the UK. For a lot of the kids, it was their first experience of theatre.

Working as associate director on Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World was a highlight too. As the tour went on we had people dressing up as the characters – people like Frida Kahlo and Emmeline Pankhurst. I think seeing that you’re affecting younger people has always been the most rewarding part of the job.

How do you feel about making your Everyman main stage debut?

I feel very grateful and proud to be back here. The Everyman stage is incredibly exciting to create a show for, the audience are so close to you they feel like they are part of the story. We’ve definitely got our own take on Romeo and Juliet so it should be exciting, and people will hopefully take something new away from it. We’ve also assembled a brilliant cast and creative team and I can’t wait to get stuck into rehearsals with them all.

Will working at the Everyman have an influence on your Romeo and Juliet?

Making the show in Liverpool and being at the Everyman, it feels important to incorporate northern voices and north-west talent – regional voices and accents on stage. And the city itself feels like a bit of a design inspiration – one of Sascha’s (our set and costume designer) biggest influences that sparked a lot of ideas was a picture she took on the street behind the Everyman! So yes, Liverpool itself does feel like an influence.

Finally, what will people discover in your version of Romeo and Juliet, and why should they come to see it?

 Shakespeare’s plays are so universal because they’re about human experiences and relationships, and I do think it feels really relevant today. It feels like a bit of a warning about missed opportunities, being closed-minded – about not moving forward or adapting or changing. It’s a warning about holding onto things from the past.

It’s going to be a really exciting, visceral, version that highlights the struggles the young people in the play are going through. Even though it’s a tragedy set in a violent world, it’s full of hope, and love, and defiance against all odds, and isn’t that a brilliant thing!

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