ROMEO AND JULIET. To 7 June.
Newcastle-under-Lyme/Tour.
ROMEO AND JULIET
by William Shakespeare.
New Vic To 15 March 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 6, 12 March 2pm, 15 March 2.30pm.
no performance 5, 10 March.
Audio-described 12 March.
Captioned 11 March.
Post-show discussion 11 March.
then Northern Broadsides tour to 7 June 2008.
Runs 2hr 50min One interval.
TICKETS: 01782 717962.
www.newvictheatre.org.uk (New Vic performances)
Review: Timothy Ramsden.
Lively, lithe, bright and sympathetic production.
Romeo and Juliet is supposedly the Shakespeare to woo teenagers too old for the Dream but not yet onto the hard stuff of Coriolanus. Yet it’s very long, the “hero” has little independent existence from the heroine, while his family(unlike her tetchy parents) hardly get a look-in. And its action’s shrouded in long, if fine, speeches (couldn’t Mercutio have been killed before he started going on about Queen Mab, whoever she is?).
A great virtue of Barrie Rutter‘s just-under three hours’ traffic of the stage lies in making characters serve the story. For once, Juliet’s Nurse (life and soul of any party, but only because everyone’s too polite to throttle her) is someone you could imagine screaming at you in the street; Fine Time Fontayne dutifully does a touch of the herbals with Friar Laurence, then gives him a lean practical force.
Even the production’s indulgence, the Capulet Ball turned into a barn-dance veering into late-night bash (another attractive, mood-defining Conrad Nelson Broadsides score), plays its dramatic part. What is this ancient grudge when Rutter’s Capulet can warn Tybalt from attacking Romeo, saying what a good lad he is? It emphasises youthful hot-blood is the fuel for death, as it is for love. The two lie only a hormone apart.
This is emphasised in the taut fights. Mercutio’s quickly stabbed and immediately knows it’s fatal; Romeo repeatedly stabs Tybalt with uncontrollable fury.
There are verbally weaker performances round the edges. But, as the star-cross’d lovers, Benedict Fogarty grows into the verse, a Romeo inevitably burning most bright when with his Juliet. And, from the first, Sarah Ridgeway suggests a young teenager, vulnerability of expression going alongside hair and clothing implying detailed study of glossy mags.
Occasionally the verse seems about to take control (her anxieties over Laurence’s potion seem hurried), but this is a vibrant performance that accommodates love and vivacity. This Juliet’s clearly her explosive father’s daughter, and ready to rebel as the next teenager.
It makes her aptly central to a brisk, appreciative production which, through an unusually late interval, emphasises the play’s move from light to dark.
Gregory/Balthasar: Matt Sutton.
Sampson/Peter: Thomas Dyer Blake.
Abram/Friar John: Liam Gerrard.
Benvolio: Chris Nayak.
Tybalt: Chris Pearse.
Montague/Apothecary: Jem Dobbs.
Lady Montague/Page: Kate-Lynne Hocking.
Lady Capulet: Lisa Howard.
Capulet: Barrie Rutter.
Prince: David Beckford.
Romeo: Benedict Fogarty.
Paris: Chris Hollinshead.
Nurse: Sue McCormick.
Juliet: Sarah Ridgeway.
Mercutio: Peter Toon.
Friar Laurence: Fine Time Fontayne.
Director: Barrie Rutter.
Designer: KLis Evans.
Lighting: Daniella Beattie.
Composer: Conrad Nelson.
Choreographer: Sue Coe.
Fight director: Kate Waters.
2008-03-02 11:40:35