Former Coronation Street actor Bruno Langley will star as Romeo Montague in this year’s Open Air Production of Romeo and Juliet.

Bruno Langley - well known for his character Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street, will be taking to the stage as the infamous star-crossed lover in Shakespeare’s most legendary tragedy at the Stafford Festival Shakespeare.

At 22, Bruno has achieved high acclaim and a major turning point in both his career and television history when he played the first on-screen gay character in the popular soap.

Bruno left the Street on a performance high, taking with him a legion of adoring female (and male) fans.

The plot line has won numerous highly acclaimed television awards for the best storyline and best TV performance in Heat magazine’s 2004 Awards.

Although the role of Romeo will be Bruno’s first theatre and open-air performance, Stephen Freeman, producer and casting director of the production, said he had proved his acting abilites on screen and in auditions.

"We are delighted that Bruno will be joining us for Stafford Festival Shakespeare. He gave a fantastic audition for us earlier in the year.

"Both the director and myself were in awe at his skills and we are now looking forward to working with this talented young actor and seeing what he can do with the exciting role of Romeo."

Bruno has recently finished filming episodes seven and eight for the new series of Doctor Who.

He worked alongside Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper, as character Adam Mitchell.

Bruno also appears in The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse, a film produced by the makers of the multi-award winning comedy and is set to star with the likes of Victoria Wood, Peter Kay and Simon Pegg, as well as regulars Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gattis and Jeremy Dyson.

Romeo and Juliet has already broken previous advance ticket sales records and, with the announcement of Bruno Langley as Romeo, sales are expected to increase even further.

Stephen Freeman said: "We are overjoyed at the response, and as ticket sales alone have already exceeded our expectations, we can only hope that the production will go from strength to strength.

"Speculation regarding the line-up is rife and it is very reassuring that the public are so interested in the production. We are now in the final stages of securing our head-lining cast and we are confident that we will not fail to disappoint so look out for further announcements in coming weeks."

Romeo and Juliet will be the 15th production to be staged as part of the annual Stafford Festival Shakespeare at Stafford Castle.

Previous plays include Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Tickets for Romeo and Juliet are on sale now and early birds who purchase seats on or before, Saturday May 7 can also benefit from between £1and £4 savings off seat prices.

Tickets for the show, which runs from Thursday June 30 to Saturday July 16 at Stafford Castle, are available from Stafford Gatehouse Theatre Box Office on 01785 254653.

© Staffordshire Newsletter, 15/3/05

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