5 months ago
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“Nothing is more calculated to trigger a groan of despair than ‘updated’ Shakespeare performed by teenagers. But this cut-down Romeo and Juliet from Jamaica is rather lovely, directed in a low-key, easy style by Jamaican-British film-maker Paul Bucknor, and acted with real feeling. It started life as a reality TV show following kids in schools putting on Shakespeare. What we get here is the winning school’s production, featuring a handful of performances that give the pros a run for their money with a naturalistic, sensitive delivery of the lines that makes you really pay attention to the text.”
This is the opening sentence of an article in leading British newspaper The Guardian about the film Romeo N Juliet 4EVA, a Jamaican school’s award-winning version of Shakespeare’s play, that has gained a great deal of attention in Britain and is now set to be screened in cinemas across the UK.
After a première at the Brixton Ritzy cinema in London, the film had a three-night run from October 12-14, 2024, after selling out a screening celebrating Jamaican Independence on August 6.
The Royal Shakespeare Company will champion the film with various initiatives, starting with an official presentation screening at Birmingham University in their ‘Pride Not Prejudice’ outreach programme. Jacaranda Books will publish a graphic novel version of the film, to be distributed by Hachett publishing house. Enfield Borough Education Authority will launch a school pilot programme for future roll-out across London.
Palace Amusement Company will release the film in Jamaica with a charity première in support of Haile Selassie High School on February 17 and a national release on February 19. The Ministry of Culture is supporting the film’s release, with Minister Olivia Grange expected to be guest speaker at the première.
The fact that the students who wrote and acted in their version of the famous play are from the Haile Selassie High School in Kingston’s inner-city, makes this film newsworthy and should make it a source of pride for all Jamaica. The cast of students had no previous experience as film or stage actors, and were simply happy to participate in an unusual effort to transform the ancient Shakespeare play into modern Jamaica.
The film’s concept was prompted during production of Conquering Shakespeare, a reality TV show produced by Bucknor’s Firefly Films for TVJ in 2019, in a programme that challenged high schools to adapt a Shakespeare play for the stage in a Jamaican context.
Bucknor, producer-writer of the British box office success The Full Monty, was committed to taking some Jamaican students from high school stage to silver screen, and to deliver Shakespeare to a totally new audience. The predominantly teenage cast of the 2019 winning play, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds, served up convincing performances with a unique Jamaican twist. Previous winners of the competition were St Andrew and Ardenne high schools, whose films were shown on TVJ in previous years.
Romeo N Juliet 4EVA is a true Jamaican film. Bucknor is Jamaican-British, best known for writing and co-producing the 1997 BAFTA and Oscar-winning smash hit The Full Monty and the 2011 Jamaican feature film Betta Mus Come.
Romeo N Juliet 4EVA was shot in Jamaica by cinematographer Gareth Cobran and stars students Deshawn Miller and Shanice Gowans, with actors Sheldon Shepherd and Everaldo Creary adding to the cast. Costume designer, Charl Baker, adds her renowned touch and credits for executive producers go to Claire Grant and Judith Alberga for Television Jamaica.
Bucknor informed that he has been negotiating several offers to screen the film from various outlets in Britain and elsewhere, and will accept offers after the film receives a national endorsement of this significant milestone of Jamaican achievement in film, entertainment and academic excellence.
English (US) ·