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Tom Holland gets cosy with Zendaya in rare PDA after mixed Romeo and Juliet reviews-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro
The West End run has officially begun.
![Tom Holland gets cosy with Zendaya in rare PDA after mixed Romeo and Juliet reviews-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SEI_205805448-277b-e1716543231459.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)
Tom Holland and Zendaya left the Duke of York Theatre hand-in-hand (Picture: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images)
Zendaya came out to support her partner Tom Holland in London’s West End for the opening night of Romeo and Juliet.
The Spider-Man star, 27, plays Romeo in Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy, which is running at the Duke of York Theatre until August 3.
Starring alongside Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet, Tom was praised for a ‘mesmerising’ performance by one critic, while the play itself – and especially the production surrounding it – was met with mixed reviews.
Dune actress Zendaya, also 27, looked chuffed with her beau as they marched out of the theatre hand-in-hand, in a rare public display of affection for the private pair.
Tom – who recently debuted his new controversial haircut – wore a simple black jumper and trousers, while Zendaya dressed in a dramatic satin gown encrusted with tiny glittering gems for the evening, as they strode past the crowds, looking in good spirits.
Writing for the Daily Mail, critic Patrick Marmion gave the production four out of five stars, acknowledging that the show is following a trend of ‘celebrity minimalism’, such as Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard and the many iterations of 2:22 A Ghost Story.
Tom is starring as Romeo in a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (Picture: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images)
The play was met with mixed reviews at the press night on May 23 (Picture: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images)
He said Lloyd’s adaptation only requires Holland ‘to reach the giddy heights of a microphone stand’, but said the smile he ‘scatters on his beloved are – in Hollywood terms – worth a million dollars’, while Amewudah-Rivers ‘holds up well as Juliet’.
As for the production, Marmion described it as ‘monotone, monochrome and mannered’.
David Benedict from Variety said that although it began ‘undeniably arresting’ with the ‘captivating’ relationship between the lead parts, ‘it gradually hits you that they’re reciting words at, rather than to, the audience.’
The critic suggests this is due to the ‘fiercely stripped-down’ aesthetic in Lloyd’s adaptation, with the ‘most attention-grabbing element’ being sound.
‘The result, worryingly, is the absence of anything approaching connection… Both actors are hobbled by the logical (over) extension of Lloyd’s approach,’ he said.
The Independent’s Tim Bano gave the adaption two out of five stars.
‘This is less “Jamie Lloyd does Shakespeare”, more “Jamie Lloyd does Jamie Lloyd”,’ he said.
He said there were no ‘blow-away performances’, suggesting the actors were ‘constricted by the production that’s been built around them’.
One critic called Tom’s performance ‘mesmerising’ while many thought the production fell short (Picture: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images)
Tom and Zendaya first sparked dating rumours in 2017 and went official with their relationship in 2021 (Picture: Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Telegraph’s theatre critic Dominic Cavendish gave the production a full five stars.
‘Tom Holland mesmerises in this once-in-a-generation production,’ he said.
The Times’ critic Clive Davis suggested audiences might feel ‘short-changed’ as some moments were acted on screen rather than stage – when many were drawn to the production for the unique opportunity to see Tom acting in the flesh, rather than in the latest blockbuster.
Last month, the theatre company behind the West End production condemned ‘deplorable racial abuse’ directed towards one of its stars.
Romeo and Juliet has been staged hundreds of times in the West End and The Crown actor Josh O’Connor and Irish star Jessie Buckley appeared in a version of the play, filmed for TV inside the National Theatre in 2021.
Other actors to play Romeo on stage include Harry Potter star Alfred Enoch, Lord Of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen, Game Of Thrones’ Sean Bean and Bodyguard actor Richard Madden.
Tom and Zendaya first sparked dating rumours while sharing the screen in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, where they forged a very close friendship.
In 2021, they finally made things official when they were pictured kissing during a drive.
The pair are now thought to live together in Richmond, London.
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