Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 25th May 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
4****
William Shakespeare. The very name rings down through history like a massive bronze gong. And then there is (arguably) his most famous work: Romeo and Juliet. We have all seen a version of this play, whether on stage or screen and so we believe we know the work intimately. Well, not this version…
Entering the auditorium it was immediately apparent that this was to be no ordinary reading. The stage was fully populated with all the actors in the production – 8 in all, 4 men and 4 ladies. All were masked and wearing the same sumptuous costume of black trousers, Dr Marten style boots and a sleeveless richly embroidered and coloured over-buttoned waistcoat. The atmospheric austerity of the stage with a three tiered platform and large white drapes hanging off a scaffold structure, lit starkly by brilliant white light, gave a mysterious air.
Unfortunately there was no programme available. I’m not sure if this was a deliberate thing – I.e. an attempt to not single out any person and to highlight a company ensemble ethos – but it does make reviewing rather difficult. With that in mind…
Our leads, Romeo and Juliet were both rather fine, bringing much raw emotion especially in the final death scenes. The love “dance” was also highly effective, with a charming sensuousness and believability.
Of the other characters, I particularly enjoyed Juliet’s mother as she conveyed convincing authority alongside some passionately wrought acting especially the anger that she unleashed at Juliette’s stubbornness over marrying Paris and when discovering her daughter dead. The nurse was another standout performance – eliciting most of the laughs of the piece.
Overall I found the production a bit of a tricky watch, with so much motion on the part of the players (they rarely stood still) it was like watching modern dance with dialogue and was at times a little distracting. Audibility of the dialogue was another issue, especially when actors were leaping between metal platforms and the landing obliterated all other sounds. On the plus side, such physicality did mean the fight scenes packed a menacing punch.
There was a fair amount of singing and it was done rather well and to great effect at key moments. I was, however, longing to know what they were singing (it being in Italian) as I’m sure the music was carefully chosen with a purpose in mind. Again, a programme to read at interval would have given some welcome insight. The highlight of the music for me was Juliet’s solo as a backdrop for Romeo’s final angst ridden visit to the Friar.
There are many I’m sure who will love this stylized account of this classic tragedy. It appeared as faithful to the original source material in script as it was innovative in its thoroughly modern staging. It didn’t quite do it for me in that latter regard, although I did come away with an appreciation of the staggering effort the actors had gone through to put it on; so there was much to enjoy (even for a Shakespearean philistine like me). If you like your Bard brought thoroughly up to date with muscular direction and full blooded commitment from those on stage then this will give you much pleasure.