Romeo & Juliet REVIEW 17 Feb 2023 ***

THEATRE

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Australian Shakespeare Company

At Botanical Garden, Melbourne, until 10 March 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ***

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly 3MBS on Sat 25 Feb 2023. K

Romeo & Juliet- L (from back) Khisraw Jones-Shukoor, R Wolfgang Reed photo Ben Fon

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy that is justifiably one of his most beloved and frequently performed, and Glenn Elston has directed a buoyant, new production in the Botanical Gardens under the summer skies.

 

In case you've forgotten the story, Romeo (Wolfgang Reed), from the clan Montague, falls in love with Juliet (Tiffany Wong), from the opposing clan of Capulet. These two adolescents marry in secret only to be undone when Romeo kills Juliet’s Capulet cousin, Tybalt (Khisraw Jones-Shukoor), in a duel, for which Romeo is banished. It all ends in tragedy for the hapless young lovers.

 

The cast includes some older, skilful actors such as the inimitable and versatile Alison Whyte as Juliet’s Nurse, Syd Brisbane as a puppyish servant, Peter, Hugh Sexton playing a stately Lord Montague and Dion Mills as Friar Lawrence, but some of the acting in the rest of the ensemble is uneven.

 

Reed has boyish charm as Romeo, Paul Morris is a mischievous Mercutio and Jones-Shukoor is suitably arrogant and belligerent as Tybalt. Wong plays the challenging role of Juliet with youthful exuberance, however her performance lacks nuance and vocal technique and does not penetrate the heart of the poetic text.

 

While the Montagues’ costumes (Karla Erenbots) draw on a more traditional English period style, the costume design and choreography (Sue-Ellen Shook) for the Capulet family have an Indian theme, with the show highlight being a vivacious, celebratory Bollywood-style dance at the Capulet masked ball that had the audience clapping and cheering.

 

This lively, playful interpretation of Romeo and Juliet provides access to Shakespeare’s tragedies for those who may be new to his work. It may emphasise the characters’ playfulness and the comic elements in the first acts, but it steers a course into drama by the tragic ending.

 

by Kate Herbert  

 

 

Romeo & Juliet-Wolfgang Reed & Tiffany Wong photo Ben Fon

CAST

JULIET Tiffany Wong

ROMEO Wolfgang Reed

LADY CAPULET Nicole Nabout

NURSE Alison Whyte

LORD CAPULET Rajendra Moodley

TYBALT Khisraw Jones-Shukoor

PARIS Tane Accra-Williams

PETER Syd Brisbane

PRINCE ESCALUS Malith Wijayawardhana

FRIAR LAWRENCE Dion Mills

LORD MONTAGUE Hugh Sexton

MERCUTIO/ABRAHAM Paul Morris

BENVOLIO Alex Cooper

SAMPSON/FRIAR JOHN Tony Rive

ROSALIND Akansha Hungenahally

 

CREATIVE TEAM

DIRECTOR Glenn Elston

MUSICAL DIRECTOR Paul Norton

COSTUME DESIGN Karla Erenbots

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER Scott Jackson