Residents of London street perform Romeo and Juliet balcony scene from their windows during lockdown

Twitter/@ruthgibson
Zoe Paskett6 April 2020

The residents of a north London street were treated to an al fresco showing of Romeo and Juliet this weekend, as actors performed the play out of their windows.

Making the most of the sunny weather – but still practising proper social distancing – Ché Walker and Ruth Gibson played Shakespeare’s starcross'd lovers across the road from each other.

Gibson and fellow actor Sasha Frost both posted videos of the performance on Twitter, showing views from either side of the road, while flautist Adolfo Bronstein gives musical accompaniment from a next-door window.

Gibson’s video sees the audience in the street and their homes showing their appreciation with applause.

“It was Ché’s idea,” she said. “Our windows are opposite and he suggested we did the balcony scene from our flats to entertain the neighbours.

“There are a lot of people on our road who are self isolating and, being near the Royal Free [Hospital], also a lot of NHS workers."

Gibson added: “The neighbours watched from their flats, front gardens or street, keeping to the social distancing rules! It was just a couple of actors shouting out the window but I think it cheered some people up in this strange time.”

Walker is also a playwright and director as well as actor; his musical Been So Long, written with Arthur Darvill, has been made into a film starring Michaela Coel and Arinzé Kene in 2018.

This performance follows a trend of people using their windows as stages or galleries to keep spirits up during lockdown – videos emerged last month of Italians singing out of their windows, and now children in the UK have been putting rainbow paintings on display.

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