 | Romeo and Juliet |  |
"He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." Act II, scene ii
Written: 1594
Chapterhouse Theatre Company ; July 30, 2006 Hertfordshire, UK
Starring :
Reviewed on : 2006-08-07 13:45:06 ; Reviewed by : Wendy Attwell
| There are certain expectations that one brings to an open-air performance of Shakespeare: ‘traditional’ costuming, a simple stage set, a minimum of props, enthusiastic performers, and an acceptable level of acting and direction. Most touring companies succeed by focusing their energies on the acting, or in being innovative where they cannot be lavish. One would not expect the same high standards that one would demand of (for example) the RSC, but the production should be good enough to pass an enjoyable sunny afternoon in the company of Shakespeare. Sadly, the current production of Romeo and Juliet by Chapterhouse Theatre Company does not even live up to these meagre expectations.
The theatre programme has an insert detailing amendments to the cast list, and in addition to this an announcement was made of further changes in the cast due to ill health. Consequently, Romeo was played by understudy Eddie Beardsmore (originally cast as Paris). Beardsmore made the best of this situation, but despite being almost word-perfect seems ill suited as a young romantic lead. He took a rather heavy-handed approach to the character; and I didn’t for a second believe that he was in love, much less that he would die for his beloved . Katie Dale as Juliet is sweet and energetic, light on her feet and pleasing to watch, but did not bring any real depth to the role. I felt that she could be much better surrounded by actors of a higher calibre.
In the rest of the cast there were some acceptable performers, and some that I just wanted to ‘boo’ off the stage. Ivan Wilkinson as Benvolio fell into the latter category. Wilkinson seems to be from the school of acting that believes the louder you shout, the better your performance. It was almost painful to watch him, especially as he was so enthusiastic and energetic in the part, and completely unaware that his performance was thoroughly awful. Elisa Terren as the Prince (in a dress) was almost incomprehensible because of her strong accent. Nick Potts gave a feeling performance as Mercutio. But the star of the show for me was Helen Fullerton as the Nurse. The Nurse is the light relief in the play, and Fullerton really managed to get under her skin, pulling every last ounce of comedy from her lines. I felt that she was the only player who really understood what she was saying and managed to communicate meaning to the audience.
This production was performed on an exceedingly hot day and it was all too obvious that most of the actors were flagging from the heat. But this is something that they should be accustomed to, and is no real excuse for the lack of enthusiasm and effort from most of the cast. The performance was also hindered by a pole-supporting rope from the tent behind the stage coming loose, and cast members trying to fix it during the performance in plain sight of half of the audience. Such things happen in theatre - things break and need fixing - but the audience did not need further distraction from an already dull performance when someone could have just held the pole upright until the interval. Organisation is something clearly lacking in this company.
However, the actors cannot be held entirely responsible for the direness of this production. If the blame has to rest somewhere it should be with the director, Simon James Green. The staging is clumsy and ill suited to an open-air performance. Just one example of this is that Romeo and Juliet die lying head-on to the audience; we get a view of the tops of their heads but not much else. The acting is all over the place, with no sense of single purpose from the cast. It looks like direction by committee rather than a single unique vision. Running at nearly three hours, this play is far too long and I was thankful when the lovers were finally dead. I get the feeling that most of the cast know that this production is awful, and it affects their performance even further.
For many people, a touring production of a play is the only Shakespeare that they will ever see, and it is lamentable that they should encounter something as poor as this, as their only experience of the great works of the Bard.
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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
The Lovers' Fatal Parting
Reviews
|  | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
March 23, 2011 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
March 25, 2010 |  | Guildford Shakespeare Company
February 8, 2010 |  | The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey
November 6, 2008 |  | Shakespeare Theatre Company
September 28, 2008 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 29, 2008 |  | Shakespeare’s Globe Touring
June 26, 2008 |  | Northern Broadsides
April 12, 2008 | | Chapterhouse Theatre Company
July 30, 2006 |  | American Repertory Theatre at Loeb Drama Center
March 2006 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
April 10, 2005 |  | Hungarian Theatre
2003 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
2001 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
2000 |  | Apple Tree Theatre
1999 |
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