Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare North Playhouse – review

As one north-west theatre runs into a whole bunch of controversy around its apparent politicisation of the Bard (I’m looking at you, Royal Exchange), another is happily bidding to smash an entirely different set of boundaries about who can or cannot do – or even enjoy – Shakespeare.

Graeae Theatre Company, with a 40-year track record of putting disabled people front and centre and making theatre genuinely accessible to participants and audiences alike, has teamed up with Shakespeare North and Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake to present a new take on the tragic tale of the star-cross’d lovers.

With a cast of ten performers, including Deaf actors, wheelchair-users and sign language interpreters, it plays out on a simple, in-the-round stage with just a few benches and lighting poles for a set (design by Tim Meacock). The production’s ingenuity comes not so much from its modern-dress delivery as its concept. And integral to that are the rather brilliant creative captions by AV designer Christopher Harrison – delightfully animated and projected onto three large screens above the action. Their versatility and engaging appeal adds considerably to the overall storytelling.

Director Jenny Sealey uses a framing device in which a collection of actors turn up for an audition, not knowing what to expect or how to come across at their best. When the show turns out to be Romeo and Juliet, they quickly enter into the spirit of the occasion by trying costumes and roles for size before settling roughly on a line-up that sees most of the characters portrayed simultaneously in iambic pentameter and BSL.

It’s an interesting idea that works some of the time. The wordless half of each pair often bring more emotion and meaning to their performances than the verbalised versions, and there are some inventive crossovers between the parallel narratives. The downside is that the stage is often cluttered and confused.

Among the performers, Craig Painting slips seamlessly between sign language and spoken lines, interacting entertainingly with Petre Dobre’s Deaf Romeo – who utters a heartbreaking wail on discovering his ‘dead’ Juliet – and Reece Pantry’s touching Friar Laurence.

Characterisation and scenes feel understandably curtailed in a performance that really does occupy a mere “two hours’ traffic” on the stage, but in the often uncomfortable seating of Prescot’s Cockpit Theatre, that proves a distinct bonus. And while it may not break many of those boundaries in terms of being a radical retelling of the Bard, as a simple, unchallenging production, this Romeo and Juliet has much in the way of heart and likability.