RSC Live: Romeo and Juliet (2018)

RSC Live: Romeo and Juliet: Directed by Erica Whyman, Bridget Caldwell. With Nima Taleghani, Tom Padley, Josh Finan, Sakuntala Ramanee. What if your first true love was someone you’d been told to hate? Ripped apart by the bitter divisions of their parents, two young people will risk everything to be together. The most famous story of love at first sight explodes with intense passion and an irresistible desire for change. Will this spark a revolution or will division continue to tear through generations?

“u0026#39;Romeo and Julietu0026#39; is one of William Shakespeareu0026#39;s, one of the greatest and most important playwrights that ever lived, most famous plays and also one of my favourites of his and overall. It is such a lovely, powerful story, that is the quintessential depiction of passionate love descending into tragedy perhaps, chock-full of iconic lines and speeches and characters hard to forget. When it comes to setting u0026#39;Romeo and Julietu0026#39; in the modern day, it does work as despite the specific setting the themes and situations are still relevant.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs has been said more than once over the years, there is no bias whatsoever against modern productions of operas, ballet and theatre. Have never been one of those people that sees that something is not traditional and automatically dismisses it, there have been plenty of concept/contemporary productions that work because they are in good taste and make sense. There is actually a good deal that this u0026#39;Romeo and Julietu0026#39; production does right (including the authenticity of the leads and their chemistry), but somehow it doesnu0026#39;t completely connect and would have benefitted with a less is more approach. Was expecting more from one of the worldu0026#39;s leading Shakespeare/theatre companies, though the company did actually do worse than this (the Christopher Eccleston version of u0026#39;Macbethu0026#39; for example).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eShall start with what is done right with this u0026#39;Romeo and Julietu0026#39;. First and foremost, the two leads. How good the Romeo, the Juliet and their chemistry are pretty much makes or breaks a production and both Romeo and Juliet come off incredibly well (and equally so rather than one being better than the other). As does their chemistry. Karen Fishwick is a spirited and compassionate Juliet and never makes her passive, one of the few Juliets seen in recent memory to feel real and who also grows as a character. Bally Gill is a Romeo that is swaggering and ardent as well as believably youthful. Their chemistry is full of the necessary passion and beauty and a romance worth rooting for.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOther cast members come off well too. Namely Ishia Bennisonu0026#39;s amusing and loyal Nurse and Andrew Frenchu0026#39;s very composed and sympathetic Friar Laurence. Raphael Sowole has the necessary swagger and intense charisma for Tybalt. The final moments are moving and there is no denying the productionu0026#39;s knockout energy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is a shame that the staging is the complete opposite of subtle and nuanced, actually found a lot of too much of a try too hard feel and too brash. Too many staging touches either donu0026#39;t add anything at all, what was the point of turning the ball scene a rave, or just didnu0026#39;t make sense. This was a case of the gender reversals not working and being too jarring with the text, gender reversals have worked in some Shakespeare productions (i.e. National Theatreu0026#39;s portrayal of Malvolio in u0026#39;Twelfth Nightu0026#39;) but here it added absolutely nothing and took away from the playu0026#39;s meaning. Beth Cordingly was fine actually, with the spirit of Escalusu0026#39; role being stuck true to, but Charlotte Josephineu0026#39;s Mercutio for my tastes was too manic and the toughness overdone to the point of Mercutio being too nasty.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe production does very well with emphasising the youthfulness but it was with the over-emphasis on making everything contemporary where it tries too hard and it all becomes forced and at times gimmicky. Thank goodness that the leadsu0026#39; chemistry is so passionate and so rootable, which helped the love not get lost amidst everything else. The action is too hyperactive and lacks tension, with the basic choreography not being that exciting, the beginning with the children was too on the twee side and the final act was generally too much of an anti-climax. Another cast member that didnu0026#39;t quite do it for me was Michael Hodgson as Capulet, the authority is nailed but this is another case of Capulet being played/directed as too much of a brute and to sledgehammer effect this time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDo think too that the production doesnu0026#39;t look that attractive (apart from the intimate photography), too sparse and bleak and figuring out where it was meant to be set was hard. The music was very discordant with the action and atmosphere-wise this was a production that needed a more kinetic sound to the music or a more romantic one, here it was too harsh and would be more at home in an action thriller.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eConcluding, very mixed here. 5/10.”