Playhouse QPAC, Brisbane. 19-29 July 2006

Romeo and Juliet is, at least on a superficial level, one of the most familiar of Shakespeare’s plays. Most audiences are aware that this is the tale of “star-crossed lovers” whose story is impossible to describe without references to the words love, feud, chance, strife, tragedy. Bell Shakespeare is committed to translating Shakespeare’s 17th century works to modern Australian life. The Company has noted the gradual disappearance of Shakespeare from the school curriculum and there is an educational element to their approach, an emphasis on accessibility. Perhaps this explains what I saw as a very stripped down version of the play. Perhaps the small cast, unchanging set, unimaginative (for the main) costumes were an attempt at simplicity, and unfortunately for me it just seemed rather budget and bare.

I came to Romeo and Juliet with two big shadows of expectation being cast from my mind: Bell Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure which I had the pleasure of seeing at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre last year and Baz Luhrman’s stunning Romeo + Juliet. Both were exciting, dazzling, fresh and inventive. The production of Measure for Measure reached across the divide from 17th century Vienna to modern day Australia with characters that would not have looked out of place in the cast of Wogs out of Work. Music, a dynamic set and performances that set you and edge made this a brilliant example of what Bell aims to achieve. Luhrman’s film also brought to audiences around the world a beautifully fresh and modern take on a classic, using an unexpected setting, daring cinematography and raucous music to bring alive the original play. By contrast with these two heavenly experiences of Shakespeare, Bell’s Romeo and Juliet was downright dull.

The entire play is staged on a clever set, which slants up from the front of the stage, with two doorways on the left and on the right a large red rectangle that separates the players exiting or entering from the front or the rear of the stage. It is simple and stark and while I appreciated the cleverness of this backdrop at first, after two hours of watching street scuffles, feminine intimacies in Juliet’s bedroom, a ball at the Caplets, balcony scenes, lamenting in Mantua etc all of which required a rather large dose of the viewer’s imagination, I’m afraid I felt rather disappointed with designer Stephen Curtis’ vision. Nor was lighting and music used to any great effect to help invigorate the scene. A nice celestial glow is cast over the two lovers in their balcony scene and a bit of a dirge is trotted out to pass for the frivolity of the Capulet’s ball, but as each scene passed into the other with quick interchange (no blackouts), nothing was employed as a bit of heart starter for those in the audience (OK me) whose eyes had glazed over.

Costumes also bear the stamp of the stripped down approach. The Capulets are united by their tones of red, mauve and pink and the fact that they look like they shop, as a family, exclusively at Lifeline. The Montagues are more like the Ramsays’ of neighbours back in the 80s and when they tussle with their foes it’s a bit like Neighbours vs. Home and Away, with all the sense of danger and drama that that implies.

Fortunately the very core of the play, the performances of the cast, were good. The very lovely Chloe Armstrong is believable and very watchable as Juliet. If anything she seemed a little rushed at times, but perhaps that was just my own sense of urgency that the whole thing be better off over. Julian Garner as Romeo is also good, but the real star of the cast is Matthew Moore as Mercutio. After his terrific performance in Measure for Measure it was a pleasure to see him shine again here. The sharpness of Linda Cropper as Lady Capulet is also enjoyable, but both she and John Batchelor as Capulet don’t quite come across, leaving it to the younger generation, as is at least partly the intention of the play, to reach out to the audience.

While I applaud Bell’s love of Shakespeare and their desire to bring his plays to audiences around Australia I don’t think they’ve pulled off a winner with this one. Perhaps if they were to take it to school children in rural Australia who would be seeing it staged for the first time it would hit the mark. But I think audiences in our capital cities expect something a bit more original and remarkable and they’re not getting it this time around.

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