A staging of one of Shakespeare’s most famous texts that boldly states “no buts,” and “no gimmicks” – and does so, magnificently.
Romeo and Juliet is a play that has received countless stagings. The tragedy of two forbidden star crossed lovers is a tried and true classic. Many companies which stage their own adaptation of the text feel the need to explicitly add new material or elements that were not in the original version of the text such as a more conventional setting or through the use of gimmicks.
Director Salvador Kent is doing the opposite. Their only major additions to the material are moments of stillness which allow the audience to truly feel the different impactful moments of the play. These moments let what could be predictable emotional beats of a well worn text, hit the audience with a flood of feeling that can shatter the hard outer shells of even the people who have seen this play a hundred times. An extended moment of nothing but close eye contact between Romeo and Juliet on their first meeting says more about them and their connection than even Shakspeare’s own words can do.
But Kent and the actors all around do his words justice too. The soliloquies and monologues are especially a highlight. Each one has been paid the utmost attention and each is as captivating as the last without ever feeling similar or overly indulgent. A supreme feat. Particular praise to an extended moment from Lady Capulet, played by Raphaella Hawkins, who early in the play, reflects on the life of her daughter Juliet, compared to her own with masterful melancholy. A moment that is often passed over, but not here.
Mercutio, played by Noah Sarvesvaran, is another highlight, commanding the stage and effortlessly entertaining. However, intriguingly, this production frames his character as overly lustful, hedonistic and ultimately a bully. This, combined with a far more restrained Tybalt, one which seems to actively be fighting against the short tempered nature traditionally associated with the character, inverts the classic dynamic, framing Mercutio as far more of a villain. This new dynamic is fascinating and provocative, raising questions of the company our hero, Romeo, keeps and the morality of such a world. All of this is done with expert nuance and crucially without having to add anything to the text and instead, exploring what is already there.
Ben Kay’s set is simply brilliant. It of course includes the balcony set at the back of the stage but its best aspect is its simplest and yet most ingenious: the low lying rostra in the centre of the stage. Coloured grey and with the texture of concrete, it is a platform, a paved courtyard, but most importantly: it is a flat tombstone. Even before the play starts, two beams of light shine upon it, Romeo and Juliet, already sealed away. There is not anyone who does not know how this story ends, so by having this tombstone present throughout, having it double as the place enemies fight and lovers lay, all the while, the audience knows what is coming and this only emphasises the tragedy of the piece even more.
This production’s costume design is one element that does not hold up as strongly as the others. Many of the characters are in simple white shirts and black jackets with very little variation between them causing them and which side of the conflict they are on to be indistinguishable. A moment later on in the production with a coffin feels overly laborious and on the nose and a rare moment of the dramatic effect not landing. Finally, the real set piece moments, the fights, soliloquies, the dancing, are fantastic, but the moments in between them can at times feel slightly neglected. The masquerade ball near the beginning of this production is a noticeable highlight that is as mesmerising as it is strange, especially with the incredible masks provided by Moira Hamilton, and there is slight disappointment that the production never returns a moment of that nature for the rest of its run.
These are minor blemishes on an otherwise fantastic production. One that runs at over three hours but flies by, never feeling slow and sluggish. It is truly a taught production that justifies every second of itself. Romeo and Juliet by the Edinburgh University Shakespeare Company is a Shakespeare production unabashedly afraid of being a Shakespeare production. It has a remarkable confidence in itself and proves that this text, no matter how many times it has been staged, can be something remarkable in the right team’s hands.