THE GLOBE'S 'ROMEO AND JULIET'

                                                

A SHOW THAT ISN'T AFRAID TO TACKLE TRUTH AND TRAUMA.

Ola Ince directs an insightful ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre which takes to the stage from 26 September to 17 October.

This production is unlike any other take on the play I have seen, despite honouring Shakespeare’s text throughout, they also step away from tradition in many ways. At moments, characters inject a few responses using modern day language, but I felt this doesn’t jar at all, it only adds a light-hearted humour and heart-warming connectivity that everyone craves when watching theatre.

This company are bold and unforgiving and that’s what I loved most. Despite other productions drawing on the violence and conflict throughout the play between Montagues and Capulets, many performances that focus on a traditional delivery of the play draw on the prevalent theme of love, to shower the audience with that pure and unbreakable connection between the star-crossed lovers. This production explores that love, but delves deeper into the tragedy and suicide that plays out with the play.

For that reason I’d argue to say it’s not only an enjoyable and entertaining piece of theatre, but an essential one to. Set in modern day amongst urban youths, naïve yet full of potential, it uncovers the reality of life for young people today. It’s equally moving and harrowing, amongst the violent and upfront confidence shown, comes the overwhelmed, guilty, confused and dark thoughts within each of their minds. The thoughts that are repressed, hidden and unspoken of that lead to the most tragic end.

Reflecting on our society today with such a piece is so impacting for an audience as they can see similarities to their own lives or stories playing out on stage. It’s incredibly relatable at times and provides a space for those watching to reflect, learn and hold onto the power of talking, sharing and asking for help even when it may be scary.

Delving into a modern world full of BMX bikes, drugs, violence and suicide, throughout the play various captions in red bold writing appear on a screen above the stage. Statistics and facts about society today such as ‘Suicide is the biggest killer for those under 35’, ‘The rational part of one’s brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25’, ‘20% of young people experience depression before adulthood’, ‘Patriarchy is a system in which men hold the power’, and ‘Emotional neglect is a killer’. These moments brought dead silence to the theatre as every mind took in the each shocking yet truthful piece of information. Despite the difficulty in reading them at times, they brought such important messages to the play. The facts behind how we are viewing and dealing with mental health in the present day and what measures people feel they need to turn to in order to cope or silence the turbulence and trouble of the mind. They added to the sense of reality today and a painful honesty that invites change and help for those viewing. By sharing the information on both Samaritans and The Listening Place at the end of the show, the audience are left with a space to think about how to help others or themselves when struggling.

Although the play covers those themes, it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s joyful and infectious love between the obvious Romeo and Juliet, but also between Mercutio and Benvolio, Juliet and Tybalt, and even an evident wholesome connection between all actors on stage. A wonderful scene amongst the chaos and tribulations is the Capulet ball. Adapting the lyrics to various modern day songs the characters sing, dance and bring an exhilarating energy to the theatre that makes you want to jump on the stage and join them. As they get progressively more drunk or high and elated on drugs, everything only escalates as individuals respond differently to the presence of Romeo, a Montague at the Capulets party. It is fun and it’s so relatable and relevant.

I loved a lot about this play, but one of the huge strengths is its actors and delivery. The themes and direction are amazing, how the actors tell the story is the cherry on top. As soon as the play began, the moment words came out of the first actor’s mouth, I knew it was going to be a good play. All of them brought such an energy that you couldn’t take your eyes of them, every line was heard and every word held meaning, they are all sensational. Each actor brings a drop of their own personality or themselves to their role and each of them have their strengths, whether it be their variety of accents, naivety, comedy or mischievousness, they all ooze exuberance and you can’t help but immediately connect with these characters.

The most exciting part was the playfulness they all had, you could sense how comfortable they all were on stage to just react in the moment and respond to what they have been given from both the other actors on stage and the audience, making each show different depending on that. For that reason, it was so alive. Magical.

I would urge anyone to try and get to see it before it closes 17th October.
The Globe: Romeo and Juliet

Cast list:
Silas Carson: CAPULET

Beth Cordingly: LADY CAPULET

Will Edgerton: TYBALT

Alfred Enoch: ROMEO

Adam Gillen: MERCUTIO

Clara Indrani: MONTAGUE & FRIAR JOHN

Sirine Saba: NURSE

Rebekah Murrell: JULIET

Dwane Walcott: PARIS & THE PRINCE

Zoe West: BENVOLIO

Sargon Yelda: FRIAR LAURENCE

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