This production got weak reviews early in the season and has suffered weak audiences as a result. But an early August performance was excellent and showed the value of waiting until later in the run when the cast has a chance to develop the performance.
Romeo and Juliet were young and enthusisatic and silly teenagers - what you need to make the tragedy real.
The only jarring note was the odd change of costume, from modern to Elilzabethan and then back again at the end. I assume it was to underscore the ageless nature of the story, but it was annoying and unnecessary. Pick a period (either one would have been fine) and stick with it!
The costume change is the sort of thing directors do when they don't have any real ideas. You got over it, but it was unnecessary and unhelpful. I don't know what McAnuff was thinking, as the rest of the direction was excellent.
ReplyDeleteThe young lovers were very right for the roles, this Juliet was a believable 14 year-old, despite the actresses real age. I look forward to seeing Nikki James in Caesar & Cleopatra!
Friar Lawrence and the nurse seemed a lot more real than the cardboard cutouts they often become; kudos to Peter Donaldson and Lucy Peacock.
I don't know what the critics were being snotty about.