Robert Icke’s Romeo and Juliet adaptation starring Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe as star-crossed lovers receives glowing reviews across the board – with some critics hailing the play ‘brilliant’ and a ‘powerful revival’

The new West End production of Romeo and Juliet has received glowing reviews across the board, with some critics hailing the play as ‘brilliant’ and a ‘powerful revival’. 

The gripping Shakespearean adaptation, directed by Robert Icke, stars Sadie Sink, 23, and Noah Jupe, 21, as star-crossed lovers and tells the timeless tragic tale of love and innocence. 

The London Evening Standard claimed that Robert’s production with the Stranger Things star and the Hamnet star has ‘clarity, speed, and dazzling touches’, while Sadie makes a ‘magnificent Juliet’. 

Nick Curtis gave the play a star rating of four out of five, writing: ‘Sadie Sink, the breakout star of Stranger Things who’s already a Broadway veteran at 23, is a magnificent Juliet in Robert Icke’s powerful revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy, physically delicate but with a steely passion.

He continued: ‘She is matched by Noah Jupe, the young British screen talent making an assured stage debut as an impetuous, boyish Romeo.’ 

Alice Saville at The Independent wrote: ‘For a play that famously ends with two teenage corpses slumped in the grey obscurity of a crypt, Robert Icke’s take on Romeo and Juliet is outlandishly joyful. 

Rating the new play four stars out of five, Alice said the actress shone opposite Noah in Robert’s bold new staging at the Harold Pinter Theatre. 

Meanwhile, the London Theatre claimed Sadie is ‘luminous’ in Robert’s ‘time-bending production’.

Rating the play four out of five stars, Olivia Rook wrote: ‘She is luminous as Juliet, capturing the headiness of first love, as well as its ability to make you impulsive and awkward.

She continued: ‘Sink finds the humour in the balcony scene, navigating the new relationship with fluttering, hesitant speech and interrupting Romeo as he makes grand proclamations. 

Meanwhile, the Radio Times branded Sadie and Noah as ‘sensational star-crossed lovers’, before claiming the show has the overall feel of one particular Black Mirror episode. 

Rating the play four out of five stars, Olivia Garrett wrote: ‘Sadie Sink’s West End debut is a triumph of tragedy and heartache as she brings Robert Icke’s adaptation of Romeo & Juliet back to the London stage.

She continued: ‘The timeless story of love and death is given a timeless out-of-body atmosphere as scenery, costume and framing devices are used to strand the production in a minimalist world where the 1590s and 2020s blend together.

‘The show has the overall feel of the Black Mirror episode Hang the DJ as a giant digital clock flashes onto screen throughout – reminding that the lovers’ lives are literally ticking away.’ 

The Telegraph praised Sadie’s portrayal as Juliet, giving the play a total of four out of five stars. 

Claire Allfree wrote: ‘Icke aficionados will recognise many of the director’s ticks – the digital clock that intermittently counts down the play’s inexorable five-day time frame, the slow-burn naturalism, the uncanny use of music to shift the mood on a sixpence.

‘Yet it’s the lead performances that matter here, most notably Sink in her first Shakespearean role and who is so commanding she makes this Juliet’s story much more than it is Romeo’s.’ 

Meanwhile, The Guardian only gave the show three out of five stars, admitting that the play was ‘saved by Sadie and Noah’s chemistry’. 

Arifa Akbar wrote: ‘What makes the production effective, ultimately, in spite of the overbearing directorial stamp, are the two central performances.’

They added: ‘They have a sweet, pure chemistry that encapsulates the urgent and uncompromising nature of first love, so absolute in its adolescent ardour that it is worth dying for. Both speak the verse without straining for effect, too.’ 

Sadie and Noah’s run in Romeo and Juliet is scheduled to run until 20 June.