Romeo & Juliet review by The Reviews Hub
One of Shakespeare’s most renowned romances and tragedies, Romeo and Juliet has been brought to life in many different ways – from traditional theatre portrayals to films to adaptations such as West Side Story and Gnomeo and Juliet. The text is diverse and open to interpretation, perfectly suiting the latest take on the text, which is being held at the beautiful in-the-round Shakespeare North Playhouse.
For anybody unfamiliar with Romeo and Juliet, the script follows two star crossed lovers, who despite being from two families in conflict fall in love. But fates were against them and regardless of their adoration for one another, their time together on earth was not meant to be – their story ending in the most tragic and heartbreaking of ways.
Produced by Shakespeare North Playhouse and Graeae, the play is delivered on the simplest of sets – benches and light poles being moved around the stage to set the various scenes, from Friar Lawrence’s church to the Montague’s and the Capulet’s houses.
This particular interpretation is a dream for Jenny Sealey OBE, Artistic Director of Graeae, who 27 years ago as part of her interview shared her vision for a production of Romeo and Juliet as part of a five-year plan. This production, she said, would be cast by the many Deaf and Disabled people Graeae would have trained. Lots of successes happened over the five years, but Romeo and Juliet did not – making this current show extra special for all involved, particularly Sealey.
It’s a show that is at once creative, funny and powerful. It starts by introducing a cast of 10 deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors who are all at an audition for the infamous Shakesperian play and who are all bickering over which role belongs to them. They then proceed to act out the dialogue, with each role being performed by a verbal and British Sign Language (BSL) actor and with all dialogue available to view via creative captioning on screens around the performance space. While not traditional to have two Romeo’s and two Juliet’s on the stage together, the staging of the performance does work. Yes, at times it can be difficult to know where to focus your attention and you can feel like you’re missing elements with so much going on at once – but more often than not, the combined performances are a beauty to watch.
What also makes this show so accessible, is the introduction of scenes before they begin and the little moments of dialogue between the actors before they once again take on their Shakesperian role. Often these moments add some lightheartedness among the tragedy – “Can we do the balcony scene without a balcony” being just one of the laugh out loud moments.
Whether a seasoned Shakespeare lover or a newbie to the theatre world, this adaptation does have something for everybody. It’s a production that should be applauded and celebrated for championing diversity in an authentic and powerful way (without making it a tick box exercise) and that has once again proved just how open to interpretation the Shakesperian dialect is. A theatre that supports arts for all is a theatre that should be supported – so, while the seats aren’t the comfiest you are ever going to experience, that can all be forgiven when it delivers productions of this calibre.
Photos by Patch Dolan
Read the online review here
