Play Review: Romeo and Juliet (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company)
★★★1/2
Written by: William Shakespeare
Directed by: Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Lily James, Richard Madden, Derek Jacobi, Meera Syal, Jack Colgrave Hirst
A tragic tale of young love starring Lily James and Richard Madden in Kenneth Branagh's Romeo and Juliet. Image source. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
It was a Sunday evening when I rushed from work to attend the last screening of Kenneth Branagh's Romeo and Juliet at Wellington's Lighthouse Cinema on Cuba. I was highly anticipating this adaptation of the play when I saw the trailer while watching Benedict Cumberbatch in Barbican Theatre's Hamlet last season. Romeo and Juliet was the first Shakespearean play I studied during English studies in school and I instantly fell in love with it. I fell in love with the way the play was written, it was as if the words were dancing to a beautiful ballad. Before this I had not seen a stage production of Shakespeare's works so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew from the trailer it would be a modern take on the play.
The embrace of young love. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
The show opened to a series of teenagers being interviewed thereby forming the introduction to the show. They served to provide insight into romance through the eyes and mind of a teenager by answering questions about love and the notion of love at first sight. They also provided their understanding and a quick synopsis of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Director Kenneth Branagh also gave a short introduction explaining his motives behind the production and a little story on why he chose an older actor Derek Jacobi to play Mercutio before entering into the prologue of the play to set the scene.
I was relatively surprised the show was being screened in black and white but as the scene unfolded it made sense. The setting was that of a 1950s Italy with its impressive piazza set and vintage clothing. The choice gave a nostalgic touch and befitted the screens of television and films of that period. It was also very interesting to hear bouts of Italian spoken in anger and actress Lily James (Lady Rose of Downton Abbey, Natasha Rostova of War & Peace) singing in Italian during one of the scenes to remind the audiences the play was set in Verona, an Italian city.
This adaptation had opted to depict the two great households of Capulet and Montague more in the likeness of opposing mafia families. From the get-go it was obvious the heat was simmering just below boiling point as the two households collided together again and again. However, I did feel the sense of a family feud and hatred running long and deep was lost due to the fast paced story. The urgent progression did benefit in establishing the rashness of young love that developed between Romeo and Juliet as they hurtled toward their tragic ending.
Romeo and Tybalt dueling in the piazza. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
Richard Madden (Robb Stark of Game of Thrones) and Lily James were brought together once again by director Branagh as lovers after their success in Disney's Cinderella. The pair have a believable chemistry on screen and stage. Madden comes across well as a love-struck suitor pining for the jubilant and doll-eyed James. Theirs is a pure love at first sight and the forbidden nature of their situation and desperation fueled their brash actions. While their descend down a maddening spiral of doomed love is hard to comprehend it is understandable if you factor in the supposed age of the two young lovers.
Despite the balcony scene has been critiqued unfavourably by many as lacking a balcony (due to the balcony not being raised) I rather enjoyed it. The interpretation of having Juliet getting drunk from chugging down a stolen bottle of champagne or wine and then declaring her love for Romeo at the top of her lungs all the while being overheard by a much bemused Romeo was hilarious to watch.
"If that thy bent of love be honourable, / Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, / ... And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay / And follow thee my lord throughout the world. - Juliet, Act II Scene II." Photo credit: Johan Persson.
The other controversial topic steaming from this production was the casting of Sir Derek Jacobi as a much older Mercutio. Having seen him as the sassy counterpart of Sir Ian McKellen in Vicious and having heard Branagh's explanation, it was easy for me to move past it. Jacobi provides humour in an older fun-loving gentleman trying to be hip despite his age. It also makes perfect sense to have Romeo receive advice from an older, wiser and more experienced friend. However, I have to agree this choice failed to help portray a senseless robbing of a life when Mercutio came to his eventual death after a duel with the hot-blooded Tybalt.
Derek Jacobi as Mercutio, Richard Madden as Romeo and Jack Colgrave Hirst as Benvolio, the handsome trio of the production. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
The remaining cast members were well selected and believable in their roles but the most memorable of them all was the chilling scene when actor Michael Rouse as Juliet's father ended up straddling her on the ground, bending her to his will to marry Count Paris. This scene alone will drive any teenager into desperate acts to disobey their parents and to fight for freedom. Meera Syal as Juliet's nurse and Jack Colgrave Hirst as Benvolio were refreshing and provided humorous contrast to the otherwise bleak and stern topics of death and suicide.
Meera Syal as Juliet's nurse, the parent Juliet should have had. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
Lily James, the perfect Juliet, daring to defy her parents for love. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
This production may not be perfect but I still enjoyed it and thought it was time well spent in watching the much beloved words of Shakespeare come to life.
"For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. - Prince Escalus, Act V Scene III." Photo credit: Johan Persson.
Live. Love. Laugh. Liberate.
- Avis Knows
