Testament of Youth

In a new production of Romeo and Juliet, Jack Antonoff, Rachel Zegler, Kit Connor, and Sam Gold transform a classic into a timely, urgent work.

- Liam Hess

It ’s a Sunday morning in springtime London, and Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor are standing on a park bench in Primrose Hill. They raise their hands to their mouths in unison, and as the photographer calls, One, two, three, they scream into the void. Over the next few hours, not even the whipping winds of a blustery, overcast afternoon can deter them from giving the camera their all.

Eventually, though, a different kind of reality sets in: It’s 55 degrees, and once Zegler’s pink satin skirt has been fluffed for the final time, she’s bundled into a puffer jacket with a hot water bottle and sent to her trailer. That’s where I find them— Zegler with a silk scarf covering her hair, Connor ’s cheeks turned ruddy by the weather—leaning on a sofa, teasing each other.

“Are you memorized?” Zegler asks.

“I’m pretty much off-book,” Connor replies with a grin, and the pair high-five.

“Are you nervous, though?”

“Oh, yeah,” Connor says.

“I’m bloody nervous.” In September, Connor and Zegler will be making their Broadway debuts in a bold new Circle in the Square production of Romeo and Juliet by director Sam Gold (its tagline? “The youth are f**ked”). Today, they’re preparing for a read-through with Gold to be conducted over video link from Zegler’s hotel. (Both are in London for work: Connor filming Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare; Zegler doing reshoots for her starring role in Disney’s live-action Snow White, with Gal Gadot.)

As soon as the photo shoot is over, they’re in a black cab to Piccadilly. And when we meet at the hotel, both have changed: Zegler is in a black sweater, Connor in jeans and a white T-shirt, the sleeves of which he intermittently tugs down over his biceps. Before I ask them much about anything, Zegler poses a question to Connor with a sly smile: “Imagine if we didn’t get along?”