Estonia’s Kinoteater Drives ‘Romeo and Juliet’ With Trucks and Bulldozers

Estonian production company Kinoteater has reimagined Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” with a cast of heavy machinery, replacing actors with more than a dozen vehicles at a disused limestone quarry in Rummu. A red Ford pickup portrays Juliet and a rally truck plays Romeo, while city buses, fire engines and cement mixers circle purpose-built stands in front of the quarry’s cliffs. The wordless show, accompanied by fireworks and music that includes The Cardigans’ 1996 hit “Lovefool,” features excavators duelling in place of Tybalt and Mercutio and even flings a car off a cliff to mirror the tragedy’s violence. Co-director Paavo Piik says the project is “a big experiment” aimed at finding new ways to stage Shakespeare and test whether machines can convey emotions such as love. The production opened on 1 August and is scheduled to run through Sunday, 3 August.