Theatre review: 'Lily James's Juliet saves the night'

Telly hunk Richard Madden is a disappointing Romeo in Kenneth Branagh's Romeo and Juliet, but Lily "War and Peace" James delivers the Shakespearean goods

Thank the Bard above for Lily James. You've heard of a damsel in distress. Well, James is the damsel riding to the rescue of a West End production in distress. Romeo and Juliet was supposed to be the big, sexy, surefire winner of Kenneth Branagh's year-long season at the Garrick, pairing the head-turning, fast-rising 27-year-old actress with Scottish heart-throb Richard Madden, 29.

As beautiful as a Botticelli painting, James has captivated millions as the spirited Lady Rose in Downton Abbey, and gleamed brightly too as the vivacious Natasha, heroine of the BBC's recent War and Peace adaptation. As handsome as a Michelangelo statue, Madden is best-known for having played the butch Robb Stark in Game of Thrones and stripped-off for the role of hunky gamekeeper Mellors in Lady Chatterley's Lover.