Romeo and Juliet

This classic is set not in Verona, but in a contemporary mansion, where children of the filthy rich swing from chandeliers and push around shopping trolleys of alcohol. Aided by contemporary rock music the fast paced action is engaging.

The opening of the season was slightly delayed when the stage revolve played up during rehearsals, and it’s not difficult to see why it would take a while to get the spin right. In the first act, the set moves round at such a rapid pace that at times a brisk jog is needed to keep up.  

Despite the contemporary set the Director Kip Williams initially stays close to the script, save from deleting the Montagues (Romeo’s parents ) because he found them so similar to the Capulets ( Juliet’s family ) and inserting the odd Shakespearean sonnet.

Complementing the vivid landscape were some powerful acting performances.

Dylan Young as Romeo and Eryn Jean Norvill as Juliet were utterly captivating. There was spark, there was passion and an understanding about why these two star-crossed teenagers, both beautiful and able to match each other in wit and wisdom, would fall hopelessly in love.

The balcony scene was replaced by a window. Juliet glowed in the soft light and a gentle moving curtain.

Other stand-outs were Eamon Farren who played Mercutio as an out of control punk rock star and Julie Forsyth, hysterical as the Nurse.

In the second act, the courting stops and the killing starts, so a change in mood is required. However the starkness of the set was for my liking a little too bleak.

And the temptation to alter the script proved too much.  The question which crossed my mind was … is there really a need to alter the final scene?

Baz Luhrmann kept it remarkably close to the original text in his classic movie, save from Romeo awakening momentarily from this drowsiness one last time.

There’s a nod to the movie in respect to the weapon in this finale, which was fine, but also an intrusion into Romeo and Juliet’s last moment together.

To be fair the ending is gripping, it is memorable and it works in respect to the theme of this production being told from the perspective of Juliet.

But it won’t please purists who relish the perfectly spun conclusion written by Shakespeare all those hundreds of years ago.

David Spicer

Images: Eryn Jean Norvill, Mitchell Butel and Dylan Young & Eryn Jean Norvill and Anna Lise Phillips  in Sydney Theatre Company’s Romeo and Juliet. Photographer: © Lisa Tomasetti 2013