Warm nights perfect for outdoor Shakespeare at Oxford Castle

So whatever the wider concerns about the long hot summer of 2026, one advantage is that your theatrical evening is no longer likely to be interrupted by a downpour and a hasty removal to a nearby church hall.

Siege Theatre are currently presenting Romeo and Juliet in the courtyard outside Oxford Prison, and there is no excuse in current conditions for you not to catch it. We were lucky enough to attend on a blissfully clear and warm evening (yes, another one).

This vibrant, compelling production is only enhanced by its al fresco setting, framed as it is by sun-warmed historic stone, with the Castle Mound rising behind.

Romeo and Juliet at Oxford Castle & Prison (Image: Siege Theatre)

The outdoor viewer’s attention is drawn, for example to the frequent references to birds in the text. We may not have had a nightingale or a lark, but there were definitely crows, cooing wood pigeons standing in for doves, and squawking gulls reacting to the action and getting particularly excited by a noisy duel.

Similarly, it seemed entirely fitting that we moved from ‘a hot day …(with) the mad blood stirring’ to a cooling, darkening evening as the tragedy developed.

In the deepening twilight, the lovers genuinely seem to grow paler as ‘sorrow drinks (their) blood’. Stars were indeed looking down on a heartbroken Romeo as he promised to ‘defy ‘ them: and visits to Juliet lying in the Capulet tomb were made in solemn darkness.

Romeo and Juliet at Oxford Castle & Prison (Image: Siege Theatre)

The production is directed with verve by Beth Burns who also makes a dynamic Tybalt. Cyd Cowley is a mercurial, passionate Romeo with an unexpected talent for crowd engagement and physical comedy; and Megan Murphy is a playful and then deeply affecting Juliet.

Unaware of Mercutio’s fate and Romeo’s banishment, she sings a sweet and poignant song at the start of the second act. Both leads are undoubtedly stars in the making.

Keith Heddle, celebrating a birthday, deserves special mention: he played both a forceful Lord Capulet and a hesitant, bumbling Friar Lawrence, within moments of each other. His range is exceptional.

Romeo and Juliet at Oxford Castle & Prison (Image: Siege Theatre)

The play is set here during the American War of Independence: the Capulets are British (or British -supporting) and the Montagues on the American side.

The execution of this setting felt a little strained at times: for example Mercutio (a charismatic Tom Wilson) has been placed on the British side, and it seems unlikely that in a time of war he would remain best friends with his opponent Romeo.

Similarly, the question of American independence has not been resolved by the lovers’ ‘tragedie’ , and so the handshake between their fathers at the end does not truly make sense, as it does when the context has simply been a family feud.

However, the setting provides visually-arresting costumes and pistols, and music of the period, which is employed movingly.

The poster for Romeo and Juliet at Oxford Castle and Prison (Image: Siege Theatre)

I have seen two West End versions of this play recently, both featuring a celebrity star, both of whom are now currently starring in the latest Spider-Man blockbuster (Tom Holland, and Sadie Sink).

The version I saw in Oxford was more engaging, illuminating and accessible than either of them. I am not ashamed to say that I was sobbing by the end.

This is a company to whom it is well worth giving your evening – whatever the weather.

Romeo and Juliet at Oxford Castle & Prison runs until August 15.

Lucy Ffrench