ROMEO AND JULIET. To 26 August.

Tour

ROMEO AND JULIET
by William Shakespeare.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men Tour to 26 August 2007.
Runs: 2hr 15min One interval.
Review: Alan Geary 1 July at Newstead Abbey.

Outstanding. It has a self-confidence which is fully justified.
With its many points of interest and excellence, this production from The Lord Chamberlain’s Men is outstanding. It’s done, fairly unusually, in Elizabethan costume; more importantly though, the play is performed inside an overall Elizabethan context so that you feel as if you’re experiencing it as the first audiences did.

It’s an all-male cast, but there’s no suggestion of drag or comic camp. The actors, most notably Morgan Brind as the Nurse, suggest femininity by the simple deployment of fine craftsmanship. Brind is not only funny when appropriate; he brings out the depth and pathos of the character.

Richard Corgan’s Mercutio (he also plays Capulet) is superb. Corgan conveys all the essential manic neuroticism of his man. And Bruce Godfree, for a change, makes Romeo into the major protagonist he’s intended to be but too often isn’t. The self-pity scene with Friar Lawrence (Connor Williams, also excellent as Benvolio) is one of the best in the play.

The fencing is highly realistic, so is all the street argy-bargy. But there’s also vigour and authority in the delivery of the well-loved text. None of the poetry, much of which is rhyme, is lost in shoddy projection. And there’s no directorial gimmickry to get between Shakespeare and the audience.

There’s a great deal of self-confidence about this production, as if everyone concerned believes in the product. It’s completely justified.

Romeo/Gregory: Bruce Godfree.
Juliet/Samson: David Eaton.
Prince/Lady Capulet/Peter: Peter Stickney.
Paris/Balthasar/Tybalt: Sam Massey.
Mercutio/Capulet/Friar John: Richard Corgan.
Benvolio/Friar Laurence/Apothecary: Connor Williams.
Nurse/Montague: Morgan Brind.

Director: Mark Puddle.

2007-07-03 10:31:21