Verona by Magpie Theatre, April 21, 1996

 At Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne

Reviewed by Kate Herbert around 20 April 1996

How do you make Romeo and Juliet a clown show?

Ask Neill Gladwin, Artistic Director of Magpie, Adelaide's young people's theatre company. He brings his own clown history (Los Trios Ringbarkus) and a cavalcade of multi-skilled performers together to create a delightful slapstick, acrobatic, visual and often poignant show.

Few words are spoken in the 90 minutes and two of these are "Romeo" and "Juliet". Actors walk on fence tops, scale Verona's walls (design Shaun Gurton), slide down poles and dive through windows and they play instruments.

Teresa Blake and Daniel Witton as R and J employ their exceptional acrobatic skills, honed in Circus Oz and their own duo, De Soxy, to create  the sexiest love scene for teenagers.

 In the opening vignette, the ensemble, as one, approach the audience, picking up on any nuance, sneeze, cough, flutter or late arrival and using it to tease and play.  The whole company is outstanding but Nick Newbold was a standout for me, playing Mercutio as a genuine French school clown.

What stands out in this re-telling of the tragic young romance is children being victims of family feuds. It is the young who die as a pay-back for the battles of their elders. The stripping away of language heightens the poignant moments as much as the comic and reveals the bare bones of rivalry, bitterness and irrational hatred.

Love and death always provide great copy for theatre.

Verona is here for a few performances during the Comedy Festival.

END