Southwark Playhouse, London
This stripped-back, teen-oriented version crowbars ad-libs into the text, messing with the dramatic rhythm
Part of Southwark Playhouse’s Shakespeare for Schools project, this drastically pared-down version of Romeo & Juliet will be shown to 2,000 local young people for free. They certainly won’t be bored: the production is peppered with cheeky ad-libs (“Call a fucking ambulance!”) and whizzes along at just 100 minutes. It has been created in the spirit of good fun, which is lovely in theory but ultimately undercuts the tragedy. When Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers finally take their own lives, it’s a shock – and not for quite the right reasons.
There are lots of good intentions here, but not nearly enough rigour. The framing device is just that – a framework, and little else. Nicky Allpress has relocated Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy to Brixton in the 1980s, and it turns out it isn’t all that timeless after all. There are some projections of riots at the beginning and end and 80s costumes and music are used throughout. Other than that, the loose framing device creates more questions than it answers. Why are two teenagers getting married after knowing each other for just one day? How on earth are they this innocent and why doesn’t someone just pick up a phone?
Romeo & Juliet is at Southwark Playhouse, London, until 5 February.
