The costumes in Juliet & Romeo are a work of art in and of themselves. We had a lovely chat with costume designer Sarah Doucet, who designed the pieces for the 2017 run and flew in prior to the 2019/2020 tour to adjust and dress the current company members for the remount.

Speaking to Sarah gives a whole new depth to the significance and creative process behind the costumes.

According to Sarah, Juliet & Romeo is the biggest show she’s ever worked on, and it being her first time working with DJD’s creative director Kim Cooper, she was touched when she was given carte blanche by Kim to use her creativity to the freest extent when working on the show.

She was taken by Juliet & Romeo’s theme of exposing the insides of a story that audiences are used to seeing in a certain light with a certain narrative and turning those perceptions on their head. Sarah incorporated this idea into the costumes by turning the dancer’s hero jackets inside out showcasing the intricate linings as the statement pieces of each costume. The jackets are then featured in the Pageantry and Swagger piece at the top of Act Two written in by Kim when she saw the costumes.

Each Juliet and Romeo also represent the characters through the ages, as Sarah dug deeper into the theme of the story remaining a common strand through time, she dresses each character in styles from different eras adding personality to each character through cut and colour.

As Sarah has danced previously the costumes also flow and fit with the dancers in a way that allows for them to move naturally and to feel comfortable, allowing them to perform at their best. Sarah considers her job to be to make the dancers feel amazing while they are on stage. And this intention shines through in their rich and beautifully clad performance.