The fear in commercial Shakespeare led by screen stars is that they will lack acting heft (as with Sigourney Weaver’s Prospero), but Sink and Jupe speak crisply and intelligently, their occasional Gen Z ironic intonations clearly director-approved.

The Critic’s Circle Theatre Awards (which I chair) include an award for Best Shakespearean Performance. Historically dominated by work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, it has recently been won by actors in London’s off-West End and West End: this year, Hayley Atwell for her Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at Drury Lane. The trend for commercial Shakespeare –  seemingly driven by screen stars seeking theatre roles they would not be offered at stuffier subsidised venues – continues with a Romeo and Juliet starring Sadie Sink from Netflix’s Stranger Things and Noah Jupe who, with neat thematic timing, plays Hamlet in the movie Hamnet.

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