ROMEO AND JULIET: RSC

ROMEO AND JULIET: William Shakespeare
RSC Main House Tkts 0870 609 1110
then Albery Theatre, London to 8 January 2005
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 29, 31 Dec 5, 8 Jan 1,30pm
Audio-described 5 Jan 7.30pm 8 Jan 1.30pm
Captioned 7 Jan
TICKETS: 0870 060 6621 (£2.50 booking fee)
www.rsc.org.uk
Runs: 3h, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 29 April 2004

Sadly disappointing with an old-fashioned feel about it
Peter Gill's production is a real disappointment. It lacks excitement and any sense of discovery; bland and conventional it has an old-fashioned feel about it which I haven't seen at Stratford for a long time. Moreover, there is a degree of serious miscasting (does this lie at the feet of Casting Director John Cannon?) with poor acting which we shouldn't be seeing here. Against this, it's great to see June Watson making her RSC debut with David Hargreaves another bright spot in this lacklustre affair.

Gill, on the evidence of what we see, hasn't shaped the production as a whole and the all important final scene is weirdly lacking in atmosphere, looking as if it's happening in a main square rather than a tomb; it's a mistake for Tybalt (albeit a dead Tybalt) to be absent. The stage picture carries much of the message at this point.

The verse in this text is full of pit-falls; at times the form appears to be driving the performances rather than the meaning. At its worst, the production sounds close to pantomime; the performances filled out with empty gestures both vocally and physically.

If R and J is about anything it's about love and passion. Matthew Rhys and Sian Brooke may be fine up and coming young actors but they do not convey the level of passion that drives this story. Their portrayals are thin and vocally they strain much of the time. The balcony scene is hard going when lines are spoken at each other with no electricity; we are pushed away from rather than drawn into their dilemma. Rhys is not physically in control either.

Vital among the young people is Mercutio. Mercutio is a real bloke (with complexities); Gideon Turner is entirely out of his depth presenting us with a Mercutio who is more skittish, prancing pony than thoroughbred. The 'Queen Mab' speech is no easy thing to bring off, but Turner's version is truly ghastly.

Trystan Gravelle's Benvolio, though, is warm and genuine; Tam Mutu's Tybalt is commanding and full of danger.

June Watson's Nurse is marvellous, her experience enables her to grab our attention and hold on to it. Her comic timing in expert and she exudes the humanity other characters lack as she potters about her business. I was struck too by David Hargreaves's Capulet; he is quietly commanding, passionate when called to be and, when needed, genuinely funny. And it would be remiss of me not to mention Matt Cross's endearing servant Peter, a role he makes, hilariously, his own.

Escalus: Leo Wringer
Mercutio: Gideon Turner
Paris: Jonathan Forbes
Montague: Sion Tudor Owen
Lady Montague: Anita Booth
Romeo: Matthew Rhys
Benvolio: Trystan Gravelle
Abram: Caolan Byrne
Balthasar: Samuel Clemens
Capulet: David Hargreaves
Lady Capulet: Emily Raymond
Juliet: Sian Brooke
Tybalt: Tam Mutu
Nurse: June Watson
Peter: Matt Cross
Old Capulet: Peter Bygott
Sampson: Anatol Yusef
Gregory: Edward Clarke
Friar Laurence: John Normington
Friar John: Caolan Byrne
Apothecary: Peter Bygott
Lady: Jessica Tomchak

Direction: Peter Gill
Set Design: Simon Daw
Costume Design: Deirdre Clancy
Lighting: Hartley T A Kemp
Music: Terry Davies
Sound: Jeremy Dunn
Fights: Terry King
Voice Work: Lyn Darnley

2004-04-30 14:09:17