Romeo and Juliet

My thanks to Class Act Theatre Company for their very welcome invitation to see their latest Drama Production, “Romeo and Juliet” at the Drill Hall Chepstow. Always a company of innovation under the influence of Director Louise Best, we return to the casting of the Bard himself, with our ill-fated Juliet played as a male role.

Callum Woodward as Romeo presented a character both emotional and expressive, with a clarity of speech that was well paced  to the needs of each changing scene or situation. Callum has exceptional stage presence and with the sometimes-lengthy speeches of the Shakespearean script, to hold the interest of your audience is a skill he has developed very successfully. 

Ryan Gluyas taking on the most famous of the feminine roles as Juliet, gave to the audience a character so vulnerable yet showing determination, with very expressive body language and facial expression that revealed every emotion. With clear diction and well-paced delivery, he made this most feminine of roles his own. Very well done.

An excellent performance from Tom Fantom as Benvolio and Chris Mace as Mercutio. As the friends of Romeo, their characterisation and interaction made a considerable impact on the whole play. Their very natural camaraderie and defence of Romeo leading to the death of Mercutio was a highlight of the performance. Very well done.

A lovely performance by Rachel Banfield as Nurse. Once again good expression, clear diction and an understanding of the character was clearly shown.

Lord and Lady Capulet played by Joseph Harris and Hazel Guppy, gave strong performances, clearly showing their displeasure at being thwarted in their plans to marry off Juliet to the suitor of their choice; Paris played by Erie Brown. 

The  Montague family; Lord Montague  played by Toby Burnett Fielding and Lady Montague played by Sam Hodge portrayed the thoughts and feelings related to this unforeseen match between families continuously at war with each other. 

Nobody could ever say that Shakespeare’s plays are simply entertainment or that audiences find them entertaining. They certainly need a cast that have taken the words to heart and can express them with conviction, clarity and emotion. My congratulations to you all on an excellent production that challenged the boundaries successfully. I look forward to the next.

 

The views in tis report are solely of the author.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.