Romeo and Juliet review

Romeo and Juliet (perhaps boringly) is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, so to be invited to see another take on the classic was a pleasure. The show, currently at the Greenwich theatre, features live music and frames Romeo and Juliet as a same-sex/lesbian relationship.

When I arrive, I ask if I am allowed a cast sheet, for which I am given a dirty look and told they are “for press”. Clearly, Instagram micro-influencers, (perhaps fairly) are excluded from this category. In their infinite mercy, I am given one anyway. My promised complimentary drink did not exactly materialise in any conventional sense either… no matter. 

This production features an impressive, traditional looking set of castle-wall-like structures. Joni Mitchell plays in the background before the show starts, presumably trying to set a singer/songwriter mood. The show features "double up" casting, with actors playing multiple parts. The only exception are the title roles, which receive a designated actor each.

The opening scene features some good fight direction, but this perhaps goes on a little too long. Long enough for it to start being humorous rather than intense. The other slight difficulty is that we do not see fight scenes of this scale and technicality later in the show, making this initial confrontation an outlier, rather than setting the tone for the rest of the show. 

Both the leads feel meek. In Romeo's first scene, longing over Rosaline, I would usually expect a melodramatic over the top Romeo. A mopey teenager. There is none of this at all. When Mercutio dies (this is Romeo's best friend bear in mind) the devastation is not there in the performance. Taking a step back from it all, Romeo and Juliet are both insane people, ramming headfirst into a shotgun wedding, caught up in all sorts of violence and schemes. Here they are just so normal, they barely have the obsession for each other. In the second half both Blossom Timothy (Romeo) and Ava Honey (Juliet) put in markedly better performances, often bought out by the material and their scene partners. What is missing is the longing from the first half that would make their fated end have real weight. 

It is worth noting that all cast members are also the singers and instrumentalists for the show. Although vocal and instrumental chops are strong, a great many of the sung numbers I am unconvinced by conceptually. Something like Wayfaring Stranger, a song which I love, for me is too American given the context. There is a sappy duet between Romeo and Juliet that takes the place of the vows which I could have done without. The music works best, in a rather revelatory way, during Mercutio's Queen Mab speech. This is a speech that can often get disrespected by directors, but soundtracking it in the way it is done here maintains energy.  

The fourth wall break at Lord Capulet's party is a stroke of directorial brilliance. Small ensembles struggle to get the sense of bacchanal here, remember: this is a wealthy man throwing a proper function. In this moment, Capulet addresses the audience directly, turning us into the partygoers. It makes perfect sense.

Nikita Johal is a stand out cast member, taking on the role of both Mercutio and the Nurse. She is lucky to have the two characters with the strongest material. Johal wears chunky heels on stage, modulating the way she walks and holds herself in a way that feels so in keeping for the Mercutio. We get a highly physicalised performance here. 

However, the real genius in this production is all Charlotte Harwood's making. She makes a star turn as both Lady Capulet and Friar Lawrence. She is by far the most confident and natural verse speaker, and provides the most emotion. Harwood has also fully understood the brief as far as playing two characters goes. She gives Capulet and Lawrence such distinct identities, getting into almost caricature territory (in a good way). Both roles, in my view, are characterised perfectly. 

James Aldred and Matt Penson pick up the more minor roles, with nothing massively of note here. That being said, Aldred takes an approach to Paris with a twinge of nerd and camp which I rather like. Aldred is also the musical director for the show. 

There are a few line stumbles when it comes to pronouns, which the cast get occasionally wrong. I do understand though, as the original genders will be so embedded in the minds of the actors.

I think a slight danger in a casting that leans female is that a lot of the violence in the play usually feels very male. You lose that element of critique of a uniquely masculine violence. The other slight disappointment is nothing here feels culturally sapphic. There was a place to explore forbidden same-sex love, or consider the text more through a queer lens (while still keeping the original language like this production does). I suppose, however, there is something quite in the Shakespearean tradition here of cast (and gender) being almost irrelevant. 

For me, this production is not daring enough, and does not bring the play into a new light. It is missing the snowballing, fiery, electric energy that I want from an R&J (Robert Icke's recent production let me down in this regard too). This is a distinctly normal Romeo and Juliet; a production that is all in all fine. ★★★☆☆

Thank you to Greenwich Theatre for inviting me. Tickets were provided free of charge and I was given full control over the content of the review.

★★★☆☆