Fairchild Reimagines Shakespeare’s 'Lovely Boy' in a New Dance Theater
Dancer-actor Robbie Fairchild debuts Lord Chamberlain’s Men at Fall for Dance, offering a 30‑minute preview of his first work as director‑choreographer‑star. The piece treats Shakespeare’s elusive “lovely boy” as a figure from the playwright’s troupe whose forbidden longing informs Romeo and Juliet, drawing on Judi Dench’s tutelage, input from Nicholas Hytner and Will Tosh, and guidance from Christopher Wheeldon, with music by Tchaikovsky and spoken text to convey emotion rather than proof. Fairchild frames the project as a plausible fiction rather than a historical claim, aiming to illuminate queer longing in Shakespeare’s world.