Star-crossed lovers on stage in London

Ahead of Noughts and Crosses at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre this summer, we look at tear-jerking West End shows that showcase doomed love.

“Like Romeo and Juliet / It was written in the stars before they even met / That love and fate and a touch of stupidity would rob them of the hope of living happily” sings the title character in Matilda with a touch of exasperation. Star-crossed lovers are irresistibly dramatic and the idea stems from the idea that one’s fate is determined by the position of the stars and it’s impossible to alter what has been pre-ordained. Examples can be found from antiquity onwards.

Shakespeare coined the term “star-crossed lovers” in the Prologue in Romeo and Juliet: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life” – and the protagonists have been the archetypal star-crossed lovers in western popular culture ever since. In many cases, doom and gloom isn’t inevitable and the ensuing tragedy is the result of familial, social, and political obstacles.

Star-crossed lovers in theatre include Maria and Tony in West Side Story (an update of Romeo and Juliet) and Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow in Carousel. Examples abound in opera, including Mimi and Rodolfo in La bohème and Tristram and Isolde in Wagner’s opera of the same name. In fiction, they range from Cathy and Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to Bella and Edward in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga.

This summer, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre presents a new production of Malorie Blackman’s young adult novel Noughts & Crosses, which has captivated readers of all ages since it was first published in 2001 and spawned five sequels. The forbidden teenage love between Sephy and Callum is set against a society wracked by division and terrorism. It’s set to be a real highlight of the summer season and it isn’t the only show in London to have doomed love at its centre. Read on for our guide to shows that feature star-crossed lovers – hankies at the ready! There’s something deeply cathartic about the emotions that all these stories unleash.

Noughts & Crosses

The idyllic Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre transforms into the segregated nation of Albion, in which the light-skinned Noughts are ruled over by the dark-skinned Crosses. The secret friendship between Sephy (a Cross and daughter of a high-ranking politician) and Callum (a Nought and the son of Sephy’s family’s housekeeper) is severely tested when Callum is accepted into Sephy’s exclusive school and radical politics and teenage hormones collide. Dominic Cooke’s adaptation was first performed by the RSC in 2007 and this new production is directed by Tinuke Craig (A Raisin in the Sun). Noah Valentine and Corinna Brown play the lead roles.

Book Noughts & Crosses tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Romeo and Juliet

The original star-crossed lovers return to Shakespeare’s Globe this summer with an exciting Wild West twist, directed by Globe Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes. Saddle up and prepare for pistols at dawn as an ancient grudge held by rival clans in an isolated frontier town comes to the fore as their children fall in love. Rawaed Asde and Lola Shalam play the title roles.

Book Romeo and Juliet – Globe tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

There are also four performances of the play taking place at The Actors’ Church in August. A Place for Us Theatre’s production promises to be a visceral, immersive production condensed into a 70-minute running time, which you can book in a double bill with Macbeth.

Book Romeo and Juliet – The Actors Church tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Troilus and Cressida

Later in the season, Sean Holmes also directs Troilus and Cressida, whose story predates that of Romeo and Juliet. Trojan prince Troilus, a paragon of youthful male beauty, is first mentioned in Homer’s Iliad. His romance with the duplicitous Cressida (“Briseida”) was invented by the 12-century writer Benoît de Sainte-Maure and developed by further authors, including Geoffrey Chaucer in his epic poem Troilus and Crysede, who made her a more sympathetic character. In Shakespeare’s play, the witty and intelligent Cressida (from the Greek side) does love Troilus but is unable to admit it. It’s a play that challenges notions about what we should expect from a love story.

Book Troilus and Cressida tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

It’s a comedy but the impetus for all the sylvan chaos stems from star-crossed lovers Hermia and Lysander, whose love is forbidden by her father, and they head into the woods to elope. A highlight of the play is undoubtedly the Rude Mechanicals’ unintentionally hilarious production of the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe, one of the most ancient tales of star-crossed lovers (best known from Ovid’s Metamorphoses from 8 AD) and a prototype for Romeo and Juliet. As performed by Bottom et al, it's the original play that goes wrong! Nicholas Hytner’s immersive production makes the mayhem more magical than ever.

Book A Midsummer Night’s Dream tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Moulin Rouge!

Belle Epoque-set jukebox musical Moulin Rouge! has many parallels with Verdi’s opera La traviata, which was in turn inspired by the novel The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas fils (based on the author’s real-life relationship with courtesan Marie Duplessis). The romance between a young man and a consumptive courtesan who hasn’t got long to live is at the heart of all these stories. In Moulin Rouge!, Christian, an aspiring composer, falls in love with Satine, the “sparkling diamond” of the Moulin Rouge nightclub, but her illness and a powerful rival forbids a happy-ever-after. The production is visually spectacular and Elton John’s euphoric “Your Song” is at the heart of the delicious pop-infused score.

Book Moulin Rouge! tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Hadestown

Taking its cue from Greek mythology, the love between Orpheus and Eurydice involves a journey to hell and back. The young couple fall in love but a life of abject poverty and starvation drives Eurydice to seek the protection of the exploitative oligarch Hades in the underworld… Anaïs Mitchell’s jazz-tinged folk opera is in its second year in the West End and continues to enchant audiences with its themes of love and longing, and its unique blend of romance and politics.

Book Hadestown tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The latest winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Musical tells the story a man who ages in reverse, so what happens when this isolated elderly gentleman meets the vivacious Elowen, the only woman he’ll ever love? It’s far from straightforward and there’s plenty of heartbreak, but they ultimately prove to be a pair of star-crossed lovers who find a way to make their unique situation work. John Dalgleish (Best Actor in a Musical winner) and Clare Foster are enchanting in the lead roles and the actor-musician production is a whirlwind of energy and musicality.

Book The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Onegin

Timing is also key in Onegin, John Cranko’s ballet based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel. Tatiana is a shy country girl who falls hopelessly in love with the handsome and aloof Eugene Onegin (think a Russian Mr Darcy), a friend of her sister’s fiancé, and pours her heart out in a letter – to Onegin’s disgust. Years later, they meet again and Onegin sees Tatiana in an entirely new light, but she is now married. The rapturous score is based on piano works by Tchaikovsky (who wrote the celebrated opera) and star couples dancing the lead roles this summer include Marianela Nunez and Roberto Bolle, Natalia Osipova and Lukas B. Brændsrød, and Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales.

Book Onegin tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Fiddler on the Roof

Poor dairyman Tevye and his wife Golde have three daughters of marriageable age. The eldest, Tzeitel, wants to marry her childhood friend Motel, a poor tailor, rather than the wealthy butcher the local matchmaker has arranged for her. After some soul-searching, Tevye agrees to the match. It’s the same when the second, Hodel, falls in love with Perchik, a radical revolutionary. However, when the youngest, Chava, elopes with Fyedka, a gentile, his adaptability snaps. In Jordan Fein’s three-time Olivier-winning production, the disowned Chava is a clarinettist and a counterpart to the titular Fiddler. It's such a striking image - has she made the "right" decision in choosing love over family?

Book Fiddler on the Roof tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Titanique

Jack and Rose are from different worlds (steerage and first class), yet they fall hopelessly in love on the doomed “ship of dreams”. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet immortalised the characters (surely the most famous star-crossed lovers of their era) in the 1997 multi-Oscar-winning blockbuster and they’re now played (and affectionately parodied) by outstanding musical theatre performers Rob Houchen and Kat Ronney in the hilarious Celine Dion jukebox musical Titanique (which recently won the Olivier for Best Entertainment or Comedy Show). All together now: “Near, far wherever you are, I believe that my heart will go oooon”.

Book Titanique tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Noughts and Crosses. (Courtesy of production)