Beginners Please presents Romeo and Juliet: West End debut for actors affected by knife crime

Posted on Oct 31, 2025 | By Sian McBride

16,789 offences involving a bladed weapon were recorded in London last year, that’s roughly one every 30 minutes. And, despite accounting for less than 20% of the population of England and Wales, the capital is responsible for almost a third of all incidents in these two countries. From March 2023 to March 2024 there were just over 3,200 knife or offensive-weapon offences committed by children (resulting in a caution or conviction). During this time period, 57 young people aged under 25 were murdered with a knife or sharp object - 17 of which were under 16 years old.

Beginners Please, a new community theatre initiative from Trafalgar Entertainment Trust, shares the stories behind the statistics, and the human figures behind the numerical ones. The company’s first production, a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, relocates the tragedy to the London Borough of Verona: two young enemies fall in love, a turf war erupts, and devastation follows.

What makes this staging radical is that almost all of the young cast, who will all make their West End debut at the Trafalgar Theatre on 16 November, have been directly affected by knife crime.

If you want to understand why a community theatre project like Beginners Please matters, look at the evidence for arts intervention. Research from University College London found that teenagers who engage in arts and cultural activities (drama, music, dance, visiting galleries) are less likely to report antisocial behaviour up to two years later. It is also proven that arts engagement can change attitudes and build empathy, and gives young people a sense of agency, as well as providing constructive social networks. In short, access to creative expression can shift a person's trajectory.

So why stage Romeo and Juliet? Shakespeare’s play is often mislabeled as a romance, but at its root it shows how a sense of loyalty, and the need to belong, can lead to impulsive, irreversible, violence. These themes resonate today, the triggers may be different in gang warfare, but the results are the same: a single reckless moment can have devastating consequences.

This very special, one-night, production lets us see the people behind the headlines. Putting previously silenced voices centre stage, and in doing so making the West End a place of education and empathy, as well as entertainment. Go and see it: not because it will fix everything, but because the act of interacting with a difficult subject is sometimes the first small step towards changing it.

Beginners Please presents Romeo and Juliet plays at the Trafalgar Theatre on 16 November 2025.