Romeo and Juliet

Every production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet must rely heavily on the chemistry between its teenage lovers to be successful. Thanks to their natural acting skills and the sensitive direction of Megan Dansie, the young principals in the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s version of the play have their ‘chemical balance’ just right. Add in fine performances from the more experienced actors in the cast, some authentic fight scenes, terrific costumes and this is a very good Romeo and Juliet.

In late fifteenth century Verona, life for the Montague and Capulet families is unrelentingly black and white, a fact subtly reflected in the colour scheme of this production’s simple set. The families are enemies and fraternising with the enemy is not to be tolerated. Therefore, when love stirs between Romeo, who is a young Montague and Juliet, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Lord Capulet, the stage is set for tragedy.

Abby Hampton is superb as Juliet, sensitively portraying the joy and fears of the character’s first love. Hampton’s nuanced performance also demonstrates she has a mature understanding of Juliet’s struggle against the restrictive norms of her family and society. There is a feistiness to Hampton’s Juliet that helps prevent the character from being saccharine-sweet or submissive.

Despite opening night nerves, Akkshey Caplash is a natural actor who gives a touching sense of realism to Romeo. He embodies a young man who strikes a macho persona when he is with his testosterone-fuelled friends, but who has a sensitive and tragically naïve soul.

Paul Rodda is a scene-stealer whenever he is on stage. His Mercutio is perfect, a wonderful foil to the innocence of the young lovers. Brash, worldly, irreverent, dirty-minded, and decidedly sexist, Romeo’s loyal friend is always up for a fight.

Steve Marvanek is commanding as Lord Capulet, gradually revealing the man’s true character as a wrathful bully. The scene in which he demands Juliet submit to an arranged marriage to Paris is a highlight. Angela Short is excellent as Lady Capulet, producing a compelling portrait of a loving mother and a wife who is somewhat fearful of her controlling husband. Gary George is terrific as the young lovers’ well-meaning but ultimately ineffectual ally, Friar Laurence.

Alex Antoniou’s performance is strong and controlled as Romeo’s loyal and sensitive friend, Benvolio. Ronald Densley is very fine as mercurial Tybalt, producing a typical ‘angry young man’.

Juliet’s nurse is traditionally portrayed by older actors than Cate Rogers, particularly as the nurse’s apparently advanced age is mocked irreverently by Romeo’s friends. Still, for many young people even today, anyone over thirty is old and Rogers is not out of place in the Nurse role. She develops a funny, endearing character, who is unpolished, foolish and superficial in many ways but who loves her young charge dearly. On opening night I was disappointed in Rogers’ first monologue, though. She spoke too quickly, swallowing many of the laughs hidden there.

The remaining cast is generally good, developing unique characters with sometimes little dialogue. A special mention to Paul Duldig whose Peter is delightful.

The fight scenes are tightly-choreographed and very authentic, thanks to choreographer, Vanessa Redmond and fencing instructors, Scott Curness and Mark Holgate.

Paul Rodda’s set is simple but effective, the dark silhouette of Verona’s buildings with their twinkling window lights emoting thoughts of secretive family groups within the walls. Scott Cleggett’s lighting is subtle and Mark Reynolds’ sound design is strong yet unobtrusive. Sharon Malujlo’s fifteenth century costumes are stunning, with their colour themes also helping the audience determine which character belongs to which faction. The work Malujlo and her team have put into this production is clear to see.

For reasons described in the program, Megan Dansie has chosen to stage Romeo and Juliet fairly traditionally, unlike her modernistic take on Richard III for the Theatre Guild last year. Even so, the themes within the world’s best known love story are still true and so the play needs no modernising in order to resonate with today’s audiences. Love and hate are timeless and we still experience family feuds, angry young men, knife violence, arranged marriage and sadly, youth suicide.

The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s Romeo and Juliet is another fine effort from a company that is surely developing a strong reputation for staging excellent productions of The Bard’s works.

Lesley Reed

Images: Angela Short, Abby Hampton and Cate Rogers; Abby Hampton and Akkshey Caplash, & Steve Marvanek and Abby Hampton.