Bracknell Times
Bravo! For a fine reworking. By Fiona Hannon
Four fifties school boys sneak into the chapel late one night when
the moon is high, bent on mischief. After a bit of hipflask-fuelled
mucking about- dancing, belting out latin verbs, they are distracted
by a girlie mag-then a battered copy of Romeo and Juliet.
Flicking through in time-immemorial fashion to pick out the dirty
bits- of which there are quite a few- the four soon become caught up
in the play as they start acting out their scenes. They discover
shared concerns with characters from 400 years ago-crushes,
infuriating old folk and hypocrite parents. What starts as a laugh -
recreating a street brawl between the Montague’s and Capulet’s,
mugging as Juliet’s Nurse- soon turns serious.
Joe Calarco’s R&J extracts the passion from Shakespeare’s tragedy;
that moment when eyes lock for the first time and the universe falls
away. The almost visible sparks between the two students make the
other two uncomfortable- then what starts as pretend anger spills out.
All four students were fantastic and anything other the very
minimal set would have been obtrusive. Original Theatre Company
director/producer Alastair Whatley had very little to work with- all
the action takes place in the chapel, with some wooden pews and a long
strip of white cloth serving variously as the friars cell, nurse’s
headscarf and funeral bier.
Craig Gilbert turned in a delightful Lady Capulet and a bent-backed
and bumbling catastrophic Friar Lawrence, while his dying Mercutio- ‘A
plague o’both your houses!’ added real pathos. Christopher Hogben
turns what could be seen as another silly crush by Romeo- into a
deeper, profound awakening of real love. Sam Donnelly was a hilarious
old crone as the scene stealing nurse. Tom Hackney to me plays Juliet
as a boy rather than a boy playing a girl- and transforms Juliet from
a dizzy 13 year old who admits she has barely exchanged 100 words with
Romeo. His delicate Juliet suffers, with the pain that inevitably
shadows first love.
We all know where these star cross’d lovers are heading, but the
four students write their own ending in Juliet’s tomb. This
compelling, captivating production really should be seen. Go
along-your inner 13 year-old will thank you.
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