If you are going to produce a performance of one of
Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, it is a good idea to play with convention
and create a whole new vision to grab your audience’s attention. Reading
between the lines’ production of Romeo and Juliet certainly did that. Set in a
gritty, urban landscape populated with thugs and gang members this production
packs a lot of style. We are immediately thrown into a seemingly chaotic, but
actually expertly choreographed, brawl as the Capulet and Montague gangs clash.
In the melee we are introduced to the smart and sassy female cousin of Romeo,
Benvolio, superbly played by Charlie Sanderson. This choice of casting Benvolio
as a woman was, unfortunately, the only gender change in the production and
really the only break with convention (other than supplanting the traditional
rapiers with more primitive weapons such as the actor’s fists).
The controlled chaos was repeated throughout the first Act,
which built to a crescendo with the party at the Capulet house where Romeo
first spies his Juliet. I mention this scene because it epitomised for me the aforementioned
style of this production. It started with a crowd assembling on stage, flocking
towards an exalted DJ pumping rave music through the loud speakers. One by one
the characters began to perform a synchronised dance before Capulet took the
mic and, in something of the style of a hardened Tim Westwood, welcomed his guests.
It was the moment after Tybalt, the troubled Capulet youth gang leader, spotted
Romeo that really stood out for me. When Capulet, strongly played by Toby W.
Davies, sees Tybalt’s intention of causing a fracas the sounds of the party
fade and the lights draw the audience’s attention to the two men, whilst the
party continues around them in silence. At the end of their confrontation, emphasising
his power, Capulet turns away from Tybalt and the party bursts momentarily back
into life before being muted again when he turns back to deliver another
warning of what he can and will do if Tybalt disobeys him.
These moments of stylistic brilliance were, unfortunately, broken
by scenes which could have come from any Shakespeare production. The Queen Mab
scene, when we first get to meet the usually charismatic and compelling Mercutio,
was a particular let down. In the dystopian future this production is
supposedly set in, I would have liked to have seen a far more powerful Mercutio,
perhaps delivering his speech as a gangster rap or at the least with a barely
contained threatening intent such as a very troubled and alone young man might
do. It was repeatedly left to Benvolio alone to bring the emotional depth to
the Montague crew scenes. This was a serious problem for the pivotal scene when
Mercutio and Tybalt meet their ends. Upon Mercutio’s death, Benvolio’s obvious
grief was certainly not challenged by Romeo’s lukewarm response. This made the
nature of Romeo’s attack on Tybalt, namely beating him to death with a blunt
pipe, surprising and shocking but not, I believe, in the way it was intended to
be. Rather it left me cold and wondering exactly who this Romeo was? A psychopath
perhaps given the extreme switch in his nature from a considerate, peaceful man
who would not fight even when provoked to a violent and manic murderer. Poor
Juliet!
In the second act the strongest scenes were those involving
Capulet and Friar Lawrence (Benedict Sandiford). These two characters along
with Benvolio and Paris, played with wry humour by Oliver Dench, were believable
throughout. Both men try to steer the action and bend the will of the other characters
to their own in very different ways. Capulet does it with force and menace,
Friar Lawrence with reason and intellect. The ultimate failure of both was the
story I found kept my interest to the bitter end. However, the final burning
question left in my mind was this: why, when so much money and effort was spent
on the design of the wonderful set and the soundscape, was the final scene
hidden from 80% of the audience by the lack of a simple platform on which
Juliet’s body could have been placed?
