#francesca rivers

[thollandnewsbra]

“Therefore love moderately; long love doth so; Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” ― William Shakespeare.

Congratulations to Tom Holland, Francesca Rivers and the entire cast & crew of 'ROMEO & JULIET' for their highly acclaimed sold-out run on the West-End.

[breedabletrait]

Rivers Gen 3 my beloveds 💞💞💞

[destinyc1020]

It's a shame an announcement like this even has to be put out honestly. 🙄

Poor Fran. 😔

[tomhollandnet]

Tom and the cast after tonight's performance of Romeo & Juliet

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

Seeing people lust over Luigi Mundane Mangione just because he killed the CEO(“fuck capitalism!” my ass because lbr if a Black person killed the CEO y’all would hate them so much) and then the very next day seeing people shit on the cutest Black girl you ever did see and call her ugly, masculinize her, and compare her to animals, all for not looking like a zombified facelifted mugshawty Barbie sex doll.

This is what it’s like to be a Black girl. Constantly having your dignity and womanhood and value tarnished and dragged through the mud, and being reminded time and time again that the world hates your very existence and considers you the fundamental opposite of everything a beautiful and feminine woman is. Everyone walks all over you, everyone sees you as a despicable subhuman monster who doesn’t deserve or need protection and care, everyone uses you to get a one-up and prop themselves up because you’re seen as easy picking and nobody defends you when the going gets rough because to them you’re just there to remind them that they’re better than you because “at least I’m not a Black girl”. And when you complain you’re “aggressive” and “dramatic” and “it’s not about race/gender” “people can’t help what they’re attracted to, Black features are inherently more masculine anyway”. I hate it here.

[doll-0f-flesh]

They could never make me hate beautiful women.

Credits: @/thoughtdaughter95 on tiktok.

[arcadialedger]

First look at Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet Capulet!

Please support this production, as this beautiful woman endured a horrific racist backlash upon the announcement of her casting alongside Tom Holland. She deserves all of the support and love!

[spidey-strange]

Romeo, Romeo...

I am now living in a post Romeo & Juliet world. It might well be the only time I get to see it, but honestly what I saw on Saturday is going to stay with me forever. I wanted to put it down into words - my review of this play.

The first part of the experience is the music. We were in the bar and this repetitive rumble sound played over the tannoy, signalling that we were being called to Verona. We took our seats and we waited, all while more and more haze appeared across the sparsely-set stage and the music bore deep into my soul, gnarling and industrial, giving a sense of dystopian doom and foreboding. By the time the lights went out and the video screen showed 1597 in bright red lettering, I was already feeling a nervous nausea and an elevated heart rate.

This play is asking you to pretend, as much as they are. There is no set. There are no props. The actors stand like statues, dotted around, sometimes deep into the back of the stage as if ghostly apparitions. Sometimes the actors talk freely, other times they take their place behind mic stands as if part of a debating society. What happens on stage is coupled with video footage of other actors scattered around the bowels of the theatre, in the narrow backstage corridors, or even the theatre bar (and, of course, the roof). The fourth-wall breaks that often punctuate the end of these short video pieces eally pierce into your soul, looming over you, much like the mood of this whole production.

An example - as Mercutio lay dying, the camera is right in his face so you get the full pain and rage of him as he screams "a plague upon both your houses" and takes his final breaths. All the while, Romeo stands metres away, covered in blood, seething with unbridled rage, tears mixing with the blood of his friend.

The interval moment that follows literally made everyone gasp, a jumpscare that absolutely warrants the gravity of the moment. I won't say more because if there's even a 0.1% chance of you seeing it I don't want it ruined.

The second act of this play is decidedly quieter than the first. Clandestine conversations, whispers between characters, the comedy, gone. The deaths of Thibault and Mercutio loom large as the reality of the consequences kick in. Juliet remains defiant to the last - this is a Juliet who really knows what she wants (supported by Nurse, who is more like an older sister character full of kindness and friendly age-appropriate advice). As the end draws near, and the inevitability of what's about to happen (let's face it, we've all studied it at school, we know what happens!) becomes apparent, the silence in the theatre speaks volumes.

This production challenges you to see the traditional story through a far darker lens, and the blank spaces leave room for the oppressive mood and music to thrive and grow. It asks you to find answers in the quiet as much as the loud. It might be the best known love story of all time but the added weight of the staging proves everything hangs on the final line: "For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Now. Acting. And oh boy was there acting. I'm going to start with Mercutio (Joshua-Alexander Williams) and Paris (Daniel Quinn-Toye) - two actors who are in their first professional production. What pressure, and how they dealt with it. Particularly Joshua-Alexander! I thought Tomiwa Edun, who played Capulet, Juliet's father, was immense - so sinister in his delivery, he had me convinced he was head of a family and of a gang empire. And Freema Agyeman as Nurse was wonderful, as I said earlier, giving this big sister energy and providing delighful lighter moments against the shade. HUGE mention to Nima Taleghani who not only was an excellent Benvolio but also edited the original text to make it a 1hr 45 version that was powerful and punchy.

Now, our main stars. Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet was incredible. She was headstrong, she was poised, she was dynamic and still at the same time. She portrayed a Juliet desperate to be free from the confines of her family, but clear that she knew what she wanted from the love (and escape) she sought. The second act belonged to her, her stillness lingering.

And the reason I fought for a ticket, Tom Holland. I've seen him at film premieres and press events, and twice playing golf, but the opportunity to see him do what (as fans) we all know to be his true calling, was irresistible. And oh my God. Honestly I was blown away by his portrayal. Brooding, emotional, at times so quiet you had to strain to hear his lament. And then rage, euphoria, shyness, a fumbling lovesick idiot. Throughout the production he provides so much range, but also so much depth, it's impossible not to feel everything he does.

To see him, clearly in his element, providing a soul to Romeo that I've never felt before - I couldn't be prouder as a fan. For too long he has been tarred with the brush that he is not a "serious actor". As fans we know that The Devil all the Time, Cherry, and The Crowded Room are proof otherwise. This should be the moment the world realises he is INCREDIBLE, to be taken seriously, to be given the respect he is long overdue.

I wish beyond words that I get to see this play again. I hope at the very least it gets an NT live screening so that fans around the world get to witness this amazing, unique, innovative production.

Violent delights indeed have violent ends.

[breedabletrait]

She kicked Enzo and I like to think that everyone but him thought it was funny

[margokesses]

People are talking shit about the new Juliette actress in that Romeo and Juliette play by saying that she looks "like a man" and I hate it so much.

I've also seen other black women say that she needs to put on makeup or something to look more feminine and honestly...

Idk idk I don't like this whole discourse and it makes me uncomfortable and annoyed. Anyways Francesca Amewudah Rivers looks beautiful

[tomhollandnet]

Exclusive first look at Romeo & Juliet

[ohmsservice]

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

The comments about Francesca Amewudah-Rivers make me so sad and angry, to see so many people bullying and slandering a young Black girl’s appearance yet again is just anger-inducing and saddening. So sad to wake up once again to the mass dehumanization, verbal abuse, and mockery of Black women, only this time, she has a different name and face. What did we ever do to deserve this vitriol, hatred, and mistreatment? It serves as yet another reminder that we are unaccepted, undervalued, and unappreciated by the world at large. No other woman gets treated this way but Black women, because the world does not acknowledge our beauty and femininity. So sad. And the worst part is that it’s both white people AND Black people calling her ugly and manly and unattractive. Like, take a good long look at yourselves, ask yourselves why you think a Black woman with unambiguous Black features, natural beauty, and kinky Black hair is unattractive. Is it because she doesn’t look like Zendaya? Or an Instagram baddie? Is that it? Like literally deadass right now if you think that this woman right here

is ugly or unattractive in any way then just fucking unfollow me right now. Hell, block me while you’re at it, too. She is a BEAUTIFUL BLACK GIRL and anybody treating her as if she is anything but is obviously just racist. And I don’t wanna hear your excuses like “it’s not because she’s Black, she’s just ugly, there are prettier unambiguously Black girls who could’ve played the role instead—” NO I don’t wanna hear that shit! And especially from other Black people? Y’all should be highly ashamed of yourselves. I guarantee that there are a lot of women and girls in your family who look just like Ms. Rivers. In fact, I guarantee that some of Y’ALL women look just like her! And instead of uplifting her as our community ought to fucking do, I instead see so many other Black people putting her down and calling her ugly and plain and saying that she doesn’t represent the majority of Black women and “even in Africa she’d be considered ugly” and trying to separate yourselves from her. Anything to justify your own racism and not look in a mirror and reflect on your own self-hatred. Truly embarrassing and shameful. And truly shameful that anybody would think that this attitude is okay. I expect white people to be racist, but seeing Black people not even have her back is just heartbreaking and depressing, all because she’s unambiguously Black and doesn’t even try to hide it. It’s so sad.

Literally leave her alone, she is a beautiful Black queen just being herself and I’m embarrassed that I even have to type up this post because some of y’all don’t know how to fucking act. Keep your damn mouths shut! Francesca is gonna get that bag and the rest of y’all making fun of her won’t have shit to say then. So zip it. 🤫

[wickedbitch]

literally my face every time I read another damn comment where someone’s losing their shit over Michaela being a woman yet again

[niallsdaya]

racist losers absolutely grasping at straws to try and come for a successful, beautiful black queen