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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Zendaya, Tom Hiddleston, Maya Jama and Stormzy lead the stars at Tom Holland's Romeo And Juliet press night

Tom Hiddleston, Maya Jama and Stormzy led the stars supporting Tom Holland for his performance in Romeo And Juliet on Thursday night.

The famous faces flocked to The Duke Of York's Theatre for the exclusive press gala of the sold-out West End show

It turned into a date night for the celebs as Hiddleston was joined by his fiancée, Zawe Ashton, and presenter Jama by her boyfriend, rapper Stormzy, while Holland himself was supported by his Hollywood star girlfriend Zendaya

Hiddleston and Ashton, 39, who wore a white satin smock-style gown, held hands and looked every inch the loving couple as they posed for photographers. 

Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton at Thursday night’s show (Dave Benett)

The actor, 43, looked smart in a navy blue suit, which he paired with a T-shirt and dress shoes.

Jama and Stormzy, made their separate arrivals swerving the red carpet and heading straight inside the theatre. 

Jama, 29, wore a loose-fitting white shirt with flared black trousers while Stormzy, 30, donned a black T-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and a pair of matching trainers.

Maya Jama attends the opening night of Romeo and Juliet (Getty Images)

Zendaya, 27, also dodged the red carpet and stayed backstage during the performance.   

However, the Euphoria star and Holland were spotted leaving the theatre hand-in-hand after the performance as they headed to their waiting car.

Also in attendance was Holland's childhood friend and fellow actor Harrison Osterfield, 27 and playwright Jeremy O. Harris was also in attendance as well as comedian Meera Syal, who rocked up in a black shirt and pair of smart trousers.

Romeo And Juliet, which saw tickets sold out just two hours after going on sale in February, has been compared to Taylor Swift's ERA's tour because of the fan frenzy surrounding it. 

Holland and co-starFrancesca Amewudah-Rivers (Marc Brenner)

It has also been the talk of the West End and seen Holland lauded by fans and critics for his "amazing, buzzy and spellbinding" performance in the Shakespearean play.

Holland was sporting a shorter haircut for his leading role as Romeo Montague opposite Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet Capulet in Lloyd’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy.

The Times’ critic Clive Davis awarded the production three stars out of five, opening the review by questioning if Holland’s fans will be left feeling “short-changed” due to the actors being shown on screens at times during the production instead of always on stage.

Critic Patrick Marmion, writing for the Daily Mail, gave the production four out of five stars. He acknowledged that it is following a trend of “celebrity minimalism,” such as Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph’s theatre critic Dominic Cavendish gave the production a full five stars. “Tom Holland mesmerises in this once-in-a-generation production,” he said.

Arifa Akbar, a critic for the Guardian, gave the production three out of five stars, suggesting Holland “navigates the transition from Marvel’s Spider-Man to Shakespeare’s Romeo smoothly”.The part marks 27-year-old Holland’s first major theatre role since his debut as a child star in Billy Elliot: The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 2008.

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