Romeo and Juliet

This production was one of 86 that had been chosen by the RSC for their Open stage project out of nearly 200 applications.  The director had decided to set it in a modern city; with some influences from ‘The Only Way is Essex’ and scenes of street fighting in Ukraine.  The two families are wealthy owners of rival trucking companies.

The set worked very well and had been constructed from scaffolding, with a large screen set high up in the centre; it gave large areas of open stage with a staircase to an upper level.   The use of projections on the screen and the bringing on of items of furniture and props as needed created the different settings without slowing down scene changes and kept the action moving.  Apart from helping to create scenes like Friar Laurence’s ‘cell’, the screen was used to show ‘News Coverage’ of events such as the street fight between the Montagues and Capulets and their treatment in Hospital and Juliet’s ‘funeral’.  The costumes were modern and appropriate, helping establish individual characters and the two opposing factions, by their ‘company logos’.  There was interesting use of lighting, creating intimate areas in unexpected places, and the ability to have total blackout was used well and the scene with the two alternating pools of light was extremely effective.  The sound effects and video projection were all well cued and operated.  The background music had been well chosen and contributed extra depth to the production.  The filming of the ‘News items’ had been cleverly handled, they had an impact that modern audiences would immediately relate to and feel it was of the moment.  The fight sequences had been well devised by Graham Bill, the weapons looked like long bladed kitchen knives and very dangerous.  The actors used them very convincingly and with the respect they deserved.

Director Peter Cluer had decided to have a chorus of six ladies who had greater prominence than usual in this play; using them like a chorus in a Greek tragedy, describing and commenting on various events, using lines normal said by other actors.  I found the part where they said Juliet’s lines when she about to take the potion particularly powerful.

I always find with this play, unless you have a script in front of you there is always a certain amount of confusion as to who is who, in this production I still had problems but the characters were better defined.  This talented cast worked well together to bring this tragic tale to us and it would be wrong to single out many individual performances, but there are a few I would like to mention. 

Sam Rohwer, as Romeo, and Nicola Hurst as Juliet had a good rapport with each other and delivered well-rounded characters, believably besotted with each other from first sight.   Sam having captured the self-centred, fickle young man who is slightly out of control.  I would have liked to have seen a little more naivety in the fourteen-year-old Juliet, at the start but Nicola displayed a wide range of emotions as the play continued.  Heidi Price, as nurse and confidant to Juliet, brought warmth and humour to the role, delivering her lines with clarity and understanding.  Geoff Butterworth, as Friar Laurence, and adviser to Romeo, again delivered his lines with understanding.  The scenes with these two and Romeo and Juliet were a delight.  The performance given by the young servant after the death of Paris, Romeo and Juliet was delivered with timing and maturity beyond his years.

Peter Cluer succeeded in re-inventing the story in a way that could be appreciated by modern audiences without loosing the integrity of the original.  It had pace, energy, humour and tragedy, leaving us in no doubt that there were no winners in the end.  Congratulations everyone on a very interesting production.

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