How many versions of Romeo and Juliet exist?
Romeo and Juliet has acquired a cloyingly sweet assemblage in my mind and for that reason it would never be high on my list to watch. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal why as to do so would require some great psychological summoning’s. My original plan was to go and see Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe as it is one of my favourites but the £5 yard matinee ticket of R&J lured me in.
Sometimes matinee screams a little too much anti-theatre but the clear blue skies that framed the stage is a setting that money can’t buy, particularly during their wedding scene when red confetti starts raining down from the sky creating a stark contrast of colours as the material flows through the organic.
Ola Ince, the director, was able to present a form of Shakespeare’s play that didn’t feel too sticky with romance with the focus being on the more troublesome aspects of the play like patriarchy, violence and mental health in youths. At times it seemed evocative of Baz Luhrman’s ‘classic’ but they may simply be because I have not seen any other versions of this being performed. Similarly, the men all wore tracksuits whilst Juliet remained more classic and ethereal which I found to be a bit backwards, genderly speaking.
Juliet was played by Rebekah Murrell, who played Hermione, my favourite, in the production of 15 Heroines – The War which I have written about here. She was very likeable as a tougher, less simpering version of Juliet but the energy seemed to be lacking as if she was tired or holding out for the evening performance. It could be that she stood in contrast to Alfred Enoch playing Romeo whose energy zipped from stage left to right as an overexcited teenager.
Whilst my favourite performer was certainly the trombone player, the unsung hero, whose instrument was able to evoke laughter, cheers and tears, I think that Mercutio, played by Adam Gillen, flew even higher than the musicians in heavens. His body and voice were incredibly fluid, travelling up and down with merriment and misery whilst being a perfect symbol of drug abuse. He vibrated with energy which other characters bounced off of, bypassing the romance of the play and ____ straight towards a thought-provoking piece. carnival vibe with raucous hedonism
Some scenes were punctuated by red writing making claims to the state of society or even being. There was danger of it being GCSE cheese but I chose to embrace that - particularly when they announced that “The rational part of the young person’s brain is not really developed until age 25”. Ironically this was a 25th birthday present to myself (yes, I endowed myself a whopping £5 worth to celebrate).