There aren’t many Shakespeare productions that use the melody of “Agadoo” as an incidental song, but the Questors production of Romeo and Juliet is full of inventive set pieces and surprises.
In a more-or-less complete version, director Patrick Wilde has populated the story with black-hooded figures who observe, prefigure, and offer silent comment on the star-crossed lovers from warring families in Verona.
Juliet, a Capulet, not yet 14, is a victim of the idea that she is her father’s property to give to a man in marriage as he sees fit. When she meets the eyes of young Romeo, a Montague, and the son of her sworn enemy, sparks fly and high drama takes hold.
This story happens over a matter of days, from a sword fight in the market square to a young couple lying dead in a family tomb. A tragedy in miniature. And a challenge to present differently.
Set designer Juliette Demoulin has opted for a couple of staircases on each side of a balcony above double doors, with pipes suggesting both a pipe organ and being played by the pipes of fate. Each staircase has a flag with the initial of the house – C for Capulet, M for Montague. The costumes by Federica Romano are coloured to identify the families.
Luke Baverstock and Nerea Idigoras play the title roles. He is earnest and intense; she has the glow of first love. Their relationship is fast-tracked by her father’s introduction of a suitor, Paris, and intended marriage.
This Romeo and Juliet is a faithful one, while also enhancing some moments – I haven’t seen a Friar Lawrence (Robert Baker-Glenn) so overcome by emotion for a while, and Rory Hobson’s bawdy Mercucio is overtly suggestive.
Wanda Duszynska is an excellent Nurse, whether nagging her servant, repeating off-told stories, or grieving the loss of her mistress. Sarah Keller’s Lady Capulet underlines the plight of wives sold into marriage and motherhood at a young age.
This is an atmospheric adaptation with flashes of lightning and those shadowy figures prefiguring disaster. With a quiet inevitability, this Romeo and Juliet heads to its bleak conclusion, but offers a glint of hope in the last moment.
Fate and fortune, hate and happiness, love and longing. All are here, and only a moment, a minute separates them.
4 stars.
Romeo and Juliet continues at Questors Playhouse to 31 Oct.
Photo credit: Carla Marker