Another week, another outdoor Shakespeare in the rain. Last week’s productions in Stratford-Upon-Avon did their best to rain on us and drown the actors’ voices out with howling winds but this week’s production really did bring on the tempest. We’re used to it by now though,
This was the second visit of East London Shakespeare Festival to Highams Park. Last year’s “Twelfth Night” saw us scrabbling around for shade and downing drinks by the litre to try and stay cool. Today’s “Romeo and Juliet” was a slightly different vibe but still somehow resulted in Eva going blackberry-picking in her Shakespeare dress. It’s contextual memory by now.
We had two camping chairs with us, so Eva and Nathan bagsied them and a big umbrella:
While I sat at the front on a blanket with a friend and a slightly smaller umbrella. Spoiler: we did all get wet but at last we gave ourselves a fighting chance.
ELSF always has a bit of a contemporary take on Shakespeare and this was no different. I mentioned in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” last week that putting the characters into school uniform helped make sense of their decisions and ELSF pulled off a similar trick here. Romeo (Nick Hardie) and Juliet (Emilia Harrild) were believable as teenagers, especially Juliet with her surly expression and Cherry DMs. Which is good, because the logic on display in this play is really very teenage – Romeo switches affections as sharply as Proteus did last week. And the whole “I’m gonna kill myself for love” is a bit of hormonal overdramatising if I ever saw it. On the way home, we were discussing how close the plot comes to being a Shakespearean comedy – it would only take Juliet waking up a few minutes earlier for it to become one of those “what a hilarious misunderstanding” type of farces. And I wonder why Juliet didn’t just run away to Mantua instead of faking her own death. But, as ever with Shakespeare, you can’t overthink it.
On the subject of Juliet’s age, though, there was a small tweak that I clocked in the first act – Juliet is described as being “not quite eighteen” rather than “not quite fourteen”. I assume this was to make the whole marrying-off plot less creepy but it was a notable departure. And Paris living to tell the tragic tale was another tweak although one that I’m alright with. I always thought Paris dying was a bit arbitrary and almost detracts from the deaths of the lovers. So him just exchanging glance with Romeo and walking off was an OK end to the character. He doesn’t really do anything wrong – although in this version he was played a little bit creepy- so doesn’t really deserve to die.
I mentioned that the setting was contemporary but it wasn’t as specific as last year’s 80s take on “Twelfth Night”. I thought for a while it might be set in the 90s – because of the DMs and the Nurse rocking out to “Killing in the Name” – but I think that might be because my generation do associate this story with the 1996 version. And if you go too far down that road, a la Hot Fuzz, it’s a group version of “Love Fool” before you know it.
I mean, this production did have a version of “Angels” – which again, might be a reference to Claire Danes’ costume – but it kinda fitted into the Capulet party vibe and provided Romeo and Juliet with the opportunity to harmonise together, which was lovely. I did like the portrayal of the Capulets as being very much New Money and the Montagues as the old school, which explains the rivalry to some extent. Lord Capulet was exuberantly played by James Hyland and he really brought the energy to every scene he was in, including giving me a stinger of a High-5. The perils of sitting at the front!
Talking of energy, I really some of whatever Mercutio (Chris Knight) was on. The character is a complex one – both personable and troubled- so playing him as a wild-eyed raver makes sense. The unscripted interjections of Romeo and Benvolio (“He’s always like this when we go out”) helped to break up that long and slightly unhinged speech about Mab and he really went all out, pacing up and down the aisle restlessly while talking about madness.
The whole cast did well to keep the energy up, given how cold and rainy it was. They never lost focus or broke character even when they must have been freezing, especially Juliet in her wedding dress and bare feet. I missed the fight scene in the middle, as we were waiting for hot drinks in Humphreys, and I do regret that because it’s one of the best bits and where Tybalt and Mercutio really get their moments. Tybalt (Isambard Rawbone) was suitably cattish in the party scene and it would have been good to see him fight to the death. The small cast were seriously doubling up on roles and it was remarkable to see the fiery Tybalt also playing the calm and saintly Friar Lawrence. Sadé Philips made some very quick changes as both Lady Capulet and Benvolio, despite being really quite pregnant and it was impressive how she switched between roles as they are very different characters. Apprentice actor Caitlin Stevenson also seemed to be everywhere all at once – from the dignified Lady Montague to the It-Girl Rosaline – and Nathan tells me she even stayed in character during the interval.
One thing I really loved about this production was Juliet’s relationship with her nurse (Ursula Early). The nurse was played a lot younger than I’ve seen her in other productions – the aforementioned rocking out and a little light flirting with Friar Lawrence. I guess that if she genuinely nursed Juliet then she probably would only be in her late 20s or early 30s as she would have to have been of childbearing age when Juliet was a baby. And, as previously discussed, childbearing age in Tudor times was creepily young. Her relationship with Juliet in this was very physically affectionate and teasing and made a stark contrast to Juliet’s more formal relationship with her actual mother.
I’m glad they pushed through the rain and I’m glad we pushed through too. We might have been a small audience but we were certainly appreciative. We generally are whenever anyone brings culture to Highams Park. Eva loved it and watched the whole thing, despite being cold and in sandals. She did wander off in search of berries a few times but she tells me she was still watching.
There are still more dates coming up and so there are chances to see the production – hopefully on sunnier days. For tickets and more information, click here.
No disclaimer needed as I was a paying punter this time. All opinions still remain honest and my own though.
