Sharman MacDonald's playful and intense piece focuses on the fallout triggered by the deaths of Shakespeare's most famous romantic duo, and the war that wages on and on in the vengeful gangs of Verona, in spite of the horrific losses that follow in its wake.

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The stage and costume design employ a decidedly futuristic aesthetic, setting its characters in kind of fanciful nightmare, a dark and militaristic game decorated in florescent neon. This juxtaposition was chosen to underline the core tension of the piece – the push and pull of adolescent passions and adult pursuits, the coming of age in a hot summer of stifling strife, explosive clan rivalry, and, of course, budding romance.

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Under the direction and musical supervision of Chiara Nassauer, the young actors of the Theater Paderborn's U14 Club transformed the subterranean stage into a street-tape-tagged territorial battlefield, complete with stylized choreographies and a punk soundtrack to match.