Lily James and her Cinderella co-star Richard Madden have reunited to play star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Lily and Richard will appear as the tragic Shakespearean characters in a new version of the play which opens at the Garrick Theatre in London this week.Ahead of the opening night, a photograph has been released from the production showing Lily in character as the doomed heroine. She can be seen on her knees on a cold stone floor, wearing a simple white cotton dress, and with her hair worn in waves around her shoulders.
Lily James will star as Juliet in the new stage production
The new play features an all-star cast. Shakespearean veteran Sir Derek Jacobi will play Mercutio in the production, while Meera Syal will appear as the Nurse. The stage production is being directed by Sir Kenneth Brannagh – who also directed Lily and Richard in last year's acclaimed film adaptation of Cinderella. It will run at the Garrick from 25 May until 13 August.Speaking last year about Romeo and Juliet, Sir Kenneth admitted the play has "real challenges".
She has reunited with Cinderella co-star Richard Madden to play the star-crossed lovers
He told The Stage: "Of course I by no means felt I had cracked it 30 years ago, when it was the first Shakespeare I directed. "I wanted to go back to that play again, and when you work with people you realise have the appetite and the ability to play the parts, like Lily James and Richard Madden, and those talents are ready to go to work with a play that you feel contains unfinished business, that becomes very enticing. "We all spent a couple of years on Cinderella, from the casting to filming and then playing it through the distribution and press tour to promote the film. So you get to know each other, and to have those longer conversations about what you’d like to do together."