Romeo and Juliet five ways plus some bits
Shakespeare x5 is an absurdist, anarchic hour of theatre built around two actors, a series of increasingly elaborate blow-up props, a desperate desire to be understood, and seemingly no inhibitions when it comes to achieving that goal. The premise is simple: tell the story of Romeo and Juliet five different ways. What follows, however, is anything but straightforward.
The show begins with a fast-paced, clowning summary version, perhaps best suited to younger audiences, before moving into a silent-film-inspired slapstick retelling. From there comes a deliberately tedious, slowed-down version, followed by an audience-participation round, before finally arriving at a cinematic, “fit for film” rendition that brings the performance to a close. Each iteration plays with a different theatrical convention, continually testing how far the performers can push the audience and how many ways they can package the same familiar story.
At the heart of the piece is the extreme lengths people will go to in order to be understood. Add to this the double trouble of commercialised artistry and the pressure to conform to whatever format is deemed successful, and the result is a surprisingly sharp exploration of communication, expectation and artistic compromise.
For much of the show, the comedy occasionally tips into tedium as the story is repeatedly told to an increasingly absent-minded “Prince.” Yet, after the fifth iteration, it becomes clear that this repetition is precisely the point. Some people will simply refuse to understand your story, no matter how many times you retell it, how creatively you package it, or how precisely you follow the rules supposedly designed to guarantee success. The performers’ growing desperation becomes both ridiculous and increasingly recognisable.
There is something unexpectedly poignant beneath the silliness. The show delivers on its promise of Shakespeare x5, while using repetition to question whether changing the presentation can ever overcome an unwillingness to listen.
Where the production struggles to fully connect is in foreshadowing why the performers are driven to such increasingly desperate measures. Until the ending, there is little indication of the larger reason behind the escalating attempts to communicate. The eventual revelation is therefore a genuine switch: theatrical convention and carefully established patterns suddenly give way to literal anarchy.
The ending is bold, but it arrives so abruptly that there is little time for the audience to sit with the “why” before the show is over. A little more foreshadowing or narrative integration could make that final shift feel less jarring and give the piece a stronger overall arc.
Even so, Romeo and Juliet Five Ways is a surprisingly thoughtful production beneath its chaotic surface: funny, frustrating, inventive and, ultimately, rather moving. It may take five attempts to tell the story, but perhaps the real question is whether anyone was listening in the first place.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/shakespeare-x-5
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Zoo Playground – Playground 1
Dates: Aug 7th -30th
Time: 11:30am (60 mins)
Ticket prices: £13.50 / Concessions £11.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 14+