ROMEO AND JULIET. To 19 October.
Colchester
ROMEO AND JULIET
by William Shakespeare
Mercury Theatre To 19 October 2002
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 19 2.30pm
Runs 3hr One interval
TICKETS 01206 573948
boxoffice@mercurytheatre.co.uk
Review Timothy Ramsden 16 October
A production with ideas let down by its verse-speaking.This Juliet's top of the class: an intelligent young person, she thinks out the whole 'What's in a name' business. Her mind works quickly and the solution's arrived by the time she speaks it.
She has a secure, sheltered upbringing, even if mother is formal until she finds her daughter dead - her announcement of Juliet's intended marriage to Paris is businesslike by the side of Christine Absalom's Nurse, who shares her treasure's supposed happiness at the prospect. This Nurse laughs with and cares about her girl, and is fiercely protective: see the stern-faced warning she gives Romeo about how his intentions better had be honourable.
Capulet's mild-mannered too: a suited, benevolent senior manager, balanced enough to put a good word in for Romeo, even though he's a Montague. Which makes all the more shocking to Juliet his explosive rage when she refuses Paris. Vulnerably seated between her parents, Juliet' curls in physical distaste at the idea; when Capulet's sudden rage assaults her, she cringes right into herself.
You can see his point: Andrew Maud emphasises how a good marriage for his daughter has been his life's ambition – and now the wench is putting her own oar in. Dad doesn't realise his girl's becoming a young woman.
The servant Peter's upgraded to a family member (the Montague relatives, Tony Casement's fierily unbenevolent Benvolio apart, are omitted – as are the last scene's offers of memorial monument-building). You wonder why they've left him illiterate. Maybe he can't learn, which makes a point about the thuggishness of violence.
Unaware to whom he's talking Peter invites Romeo and friends to the ball 'if you be not of the house of Montague', biting his thumb in midless imitation of the opening streetfighters when he mentions the hated name; he rushes eagerly on during the ball with swords when he hears raised voices. The mindless conflict is emphasised by the use of small stones - in the hands of the brawlers and the Mantuan poison-apothecary, then raining en masse at the height of violence.
Played on an open stage, backed by an arc of wall with a high window serving for Juliet's bedroom (wrapped in a blood-red cover, she and Romeo ironically embrace there while her Paris marriage is plotted below), the action has sweep. The stage is divided along with the lovers. After Romeo's banishment, Juliet and her Nurse are entombed downstage, backed by a black cloth, in gloomy, purposely unfocused lighting. Romeo revealed behind the curtain as the action moves to him.
An evening full of ideas then. If only David Hunt hadn't confused decibels with impact. Adam Cork provides subdued, sustained notes and desolate howls to underscore key moments, but otherwise it's an aural assault course, with crashing scenery and – worst – far too much top-of-the-voice shouting. Character and detail are often lost in generalised coarse hollerin'. It's tedious, alienating and prevents good actors giving their best.
Nurse: Christine Absalom
Mercutio: Ignatius Anthony
Benvolio: Tony Casement
Romeo: Stephen Cavanagh
Paris: Victor Gardener
Peter Capulet: Colm Gormley
Tybalt: Justin Grattan
Juliet: Gina Isaac
Capulet: Andrew Maud
Lady Capulet: Shuna Snow
Friar Laurence: Tim Treslove
Boy: Joseph Cowie/Joseph Fenning/Thomas Leeds
Director: David Hunt
Designer: Michael Vale
Lighting: Tim Skelly
Composer: Adam Cork
Voice/Text: Craig Bacon
Movement: Wendy Allnut
Fight director: Richard Ryan
2002-10-18 11:53:33