We all know the story of Romeo and Juliet. It’s the classic, tragic love story – two feuding families birth two star-crossed lovers. Romeo (a Montague) and Juliet (a Capulet) must forsake their families’ will to quench the burning love between them. However, their flame is soon extinguished, resulting in a devastating tale depicting the potential fatality of love’s power.
Nicholai La Barrie’s rendition finds new significance in the four-century-old play while making his Royal Exchange Theatre debut with his sometimes passionate, sometimes awkward retelling. The Mancunion spoke with La Barrie earlier this month, where he made clear that his direction style was fascinated with the outlook of a younger audience: “I am very conscious that young people are going to come and see the show and if it’s the first time you encounter a Shakespeare play, I want it to feel like you know the characters; like they’re a part of you and understand that there is no barrier to entry.”
With this in mind, La Barrie’s interpretation of Romeo and Juliet did exactly what it said on the tin. However, as someone outside of that intended audience, a Shakespeare and theatre lover, my opinion was split. The performance seemed almost fragmented; some elements were masterpieces and others pantomime-esque.
Romeo and Juliet meet at a party thrown at the Capulet house. This scene has taken many forms, most directors choosing to mask or put the characters in fancy dress; the most famous modern example is Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation where Romeo and Juliet are dressed as a knight and an angel. Luhrmann’s design played with the language between the lovers, where Romeo names Juliet his ‘winged messenger’ (Act Two, Scene Two). In comparison, this play’s choice of cheap flowered eye masks seemed slightly sloppy.
The whole cast filled the stage backed by pulsing music inspiring their rave-style dancing. This, alongside Juliet’s rap, was a clear nod to La Barrie’s youthful audience. I can understand why the choice was made to encourage the audience to join in with an odd variation of ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ – what better way to create a party atmosphere? But for me, it soured the moment in which Romeo and Juliet locked eyes and secured their fate. In saying that, the invitation to dance was a hit with about half of the audience.
Juliet, played by Shalisha James-Davis (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Romeo and Juliet – The Globe), and Romeo, played by Conor Glean (Cymbeline, Richard III), executed an exemplary performance. Their chemistry was unmatched by other romantic plays I’ve seen and I was especially impressed by their ability to cry on cue and their delivery of raw passion. Most of all I commend the style of acting they seemed to adopt especially for a younger audience. That is to say, Romeo’s cheekiness and ‘roadman’ attitude, accompanied by Juliet’s school-girl infatuation disguised by sass and coyness, employed an unsophisticated façade. I assume this façade was created to relate with La Barrie’s younger audience, but I do not underestimate the complexity of such a delivery, nor the talent that takes.
Comic relief was a major strength of this performance, regularly implemented by Mercutio played by David Judge (Much Ado About Nothing), Nurse (Gemma Ryan, Motheract), and Sampson/Paris (Dominic Holmes, Black Superhero). Their performances were particularly enjoyed by the audience. Each should be commended for their ability to steer when it was appropriate for the audience to laugh and when it wasn’t as the tone towards the second half of the plot turns sincere.
The stylisation of Juliet’s funeral was divine art. Artificial rain showered the centre stage while undertakers carried Juliet’s covered limp body in a processional march fashion. Slowly the remaining members of the cast, obscured by their all-black outfits and matching umbrellas, surrounded the sleeping Juliet. The ground of the stage opens, not to bury the corpse, but to lift her into a sombre light amid mournful gaze. I have never witnessed such a beautiful yet forlorn depiction, and for that I am truly grateful for La Barrie’s direction. My guest and I were compelled to consider death, love, and melancholy.
I may be biased, but I do tend to favour a more sophisticated approach to Shakespeare’s interpretations, and therefore there were some direction choices I just couldn’t get behind: for example, the choice of two men dressed in balaclavas on BMX bikes who supply Romeo with poison. Not to mention the erotic (to say the least) sex scene between Romeo and Juliet, in which the avidity and intensity of their snogging, while demonstrating admirable chemistry, seemed a little too intimate and too long, especially considering the adolescent audience La Barrie caters to so chiefly.
Overall, I understand the contemporary angle La Barrie experimented with, something comparable to the RSC’s 2021 production of the same play at The Globe Theatre, and clearly he claimed the heart of Manchester’s audience last night. Romeo and Juliet was a crowd-pleaser, and it continues its run at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 18 November 2023. Tickets are still available.
