Named after Brazil’s beloved dessert pairing of guava and cheese, known as Romeu e Julieta for its perfect sweet-and-savoury balance, Cênica, a theatre company from São José do Rio Preto in São Paulo state, brings their own spirited retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy to Edinburgh. With the romantic songs of Roberto Carlos, the ‘Elvis of Brazil’, woven into the performance, it becomes an hour of joy and one of the best ways to start the morning.

The production loosely follows the plot of Romeo and Juliet. It begins with playful jokes tailored for British audiences: Beta Cunha, playing a character with lofty ambitions, demands that the show be performed seriously so she can impress casting directors and star in a remake of Fleabag. From this playful set-up, the cast launches into the story of the two doomed lovers, transposed into a contemporary Brazilian setting. The show is bilingual and all dialogue, whether Portuguese or English, is projected clearly in English on the wall, ensuring accessibility for the audience.

Cênica’s approach to Shakespeare seems wild, irreverent, even outlandish at times, a collision of highbrow and lowbrow that some might read as nihilistic. But underneath, Cênica’s approach to Shakespeare is full of joy and energy, rooted in deep respect for theatre itself, for their audience, and for the Shakespearean spirit. Their stage bursts with singing, dancing, puppetry, and a small yet fully equipped band. Audience interaction slips in through metatheatrical play, a disco ball scatters light across the room, and moments of serious performance unfold with an ease that belies the years of training and craft beneath them. To bring such an unconventional bilingual Shakespeare to Edinburgh requires courage, and in doing so they remind us that even at the Fringe, captioning and accessibility are essential parts of the theatrical experience.

The festive atmosphere that filled Summerhall’s Main Hall echoed another Brazilian moment on the international stage: when Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent premiered in Cannes early this year, accompanied by a performance of Pernambuco frevo that brought musicians and dancers to the city. Both carry serious and tragic cores, yet they show how celebration does not diminish sorrow. Instead, joy, community, solidarity, resistance, and love can grow from it. ‘Cheese and Guava, or Romeo and Juliet’ may draw from one of the bleakest love stories ever written, but in Cênica’s hands, it becomes a celebration of life, theatre, and the exuberance of Brazilian culture.

‘Cheese and Guava, or Romeo and Juliet‘ has finished its Fringe run