Romeo & Juliet (Globe)
The Globe’s season of star-crossed lovers begins with the most famous pair of all in this Elizabethan-style production from Tim Carroll.
He takes the action at breakneck speed – there’s almost a farcical feel to the play as scene quickly follows scene. It does mirror the whirligig nature of Romeo’s mind as his affections shift from Rosaline to Juliet – as well as the rapid turnaround in Juliet’s situation.
Tom Burke‘s Romeo is a serious-faced young man. Certainly, one can imagine him having deep-seated feelings for the objects of his affection, there is a degree of melancholy from the outset. It reminds us of how close to a stroppy teenager he is – one can almost imagine him itching to have an excuse to kill himself, we can bet that the Montague household wasn’t a happy one during his adolescence.
Kananu Kirimi‘s Juliet is more problematic. She has that breathy intensity of a girl in love for the first time, but seems a bit overwhelmed by some of Juliet’s great speeches and seems totally lost. The pace of the production doesn’t help here, the desire to press on with the action means that some of the emotional depth is lost.
What this production does do well is to illustrate the deep-seated enmity between the Montagues and Capulets. Here, the patriarchs, despite their ages, are eager to join in the street brawling. It’s clear that there will be no moderation from that quarter.
A definite plus for the production is James Garnon‘s engaging and very camp Mercutio. In the early parts of the play, this character is very much to the fore and although his verse speaking is not quite there, he has a definite presence. His death traditionally signals a change in the nature of the play and in this production, that change is very stark indeed.
There’s also some excellent support from some old Globe hands; Bill Stewart‘s bullying and self-important Capulet and John McEnery‘s sympathetic Friar Lawrence. I was less convinced by Bette Bourne‘s Nurse though. Having a man play this role means that, inevitably there is a touch of the pantomime dame – that’s great in the early part of the play, and Bourne is extremely funny. But in the change of mood that follows the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, there is an unintentional comic presence that distracts from the tragedy.
There are some good moments in this production. The furious pace means that the audience is kept captivated from the start and there is a real charm from the young couple at the centre of the play. But ultimately, it has all the elements of a teenage romance itself: trivial, unsatisfying with moments of pleasure. Maybe it’s fast-moving but before you know it, it has reached climax.
– Maxwell Cooter
