Romeo and Juliet Reviews

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Oxford Daily Info

I saw Romeo and Juliet at a preview performance on Saturday evening, 27th July, and was stunned. The heavens opened after a beautiful sunny day, drenching cast and audience alike, but in no way diminishing the performance or enjoyment; in fact the pathetic fallacy theory could not have been more aptly demonstrated than when thunder cracked dramatically as Tybalt was slain.

The 1950s setting enhances the timeless themes of the play, as do the insertion of the songs, very ably performed by a remarkably versatile cast. Again, on Saturday, the rain was on cue, as Peter sang a beautifully mournful lament after the death of Juliet, invoking the rain to fall.

That the story was so convincingly played out despite the conditions, is due largely of course to the excellent direction of Guy Retallack, but the energy, enthusiasm and raw ability of the young cast is not to be underestimated. The doubling of roles was seamless, with perhaps Mercutio/Paris and Tybalt/Peter worthy of special note for the contrast so effectively achieved. The female Benvolio was a bold choice; again convincingly carried off.

Juliet is played with such youthful freshness that even her most well known lines are received as for the first time, while the Elvis-style Romeo is simply a heart throb, and entirely credible as a fiery, hot-blooded young man in love.

Overall, this is a magnificent production and definitely not to be missed – whatever the weather!

Helen

Oxford Daily Info

Oxford Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet, performed in Wadham College’s beautiful walled garden, is set in ‘an Oxford curiously similar to our own, but not quite’. The company were inspired by the story of the Cutteslowe wall, built in the 1930s to separate the haves from the have-nots, which caused so much bad feeling between the two sides. The pulling down of the wall in 1959 marked a new beginning and this is what inspired the Company to set the play in that year.

OSC also like to include music in their productions and this performance was no exception. The music is from the 1950s and is performed by the cast with great gusto; the costumes date from that era too and the speed and variety of costume changes is very impressive. The cast is made up of only 8 actors who, apart from Romeo and Juliet themselves, perform a variety of roles. You might think that this would limit the performance somewhat but it does not seem to do so and, in fact, the actors deliver speeches which are often omitted or curtailed in other performances. This is all to the good. OSC manage to make the choice of period funny yet relevant without losing any of Shakespeare’s glorious language.

It seems hard to single out excellence in an all-round good cast, but I was bowled over by Alex Tomkins as rocker Romeo, looking for all the world like a young Elvis. He was funny, he was angry, he was tender. He was a young man in love. The pain on his face when he was told that Juliet had died was incredibly moving. Katie Krane as the nurse was excellent too, garrulous and frumpy, a feather for whichever wind was blowing at the time. The other actors had to be very versatile: Chris Jordan, for instance, was first a very camp Mercutio then Paris in a military uniform. The play moved seamlessly on through costume and character change at a pace which was lively but never breathless - full credit to those behind the scenes for this. They even have a fight director, which is just as well!

I have been reduced to helpless laughter before at an OSC performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream – this production is equally impressive in its own very different way and is definitely a must see.