Romeo and Juliet (review)

This past summer’s opening production in the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre “Young Hearts” season pinned its hopes on a pair of actors who fit the description well: Adetomiwa Edun and Ellie Kendrick undertook the daunting roles of Romeo and Juliet with all the enthusiasm and confidence of youth. While both scampered through the tragedy with reckless abandon—indeed, Edun regularly charged across the length of the Globe stage to show his physical prowess—neither was able to add a mature pathos by play’s end, thus weakening the tragic power of the production. If not for the incredibly beautiful and wonderfully performed music and a few standout actors, this would have been a truly disappointing show.

The play opened with a delightful musical pre-show; a quartet of actors—Jack Farthing, James Lailey, Fergal McElherron and Graham Vick—sang Renaissance ballads, set to original compositions by Nigel Hess, and established a wonderful camaraderie with the quickly-enraptured audience. When each singer changed costume and became a character in the play, the production was off to a rousing start. The opening fight scene between the Montagues and Capulets was mesmerizing, with actors hacking-and-slashing across the entire playing space—even to the edges of the stage, where audience members felt rapiers whizzing above their heads. Malcolm Ranson’s fight scenes were generally top-notch, and it was clear that he and his actors had put a great deal of time into this opening brawl.

Sadly, the initial energy slowly dissipated, and the production lost much of its power and engagement. Periodically, a brilliant (and hysterical) Mercutio, played with courage and even daring by Philip Cumbus, made up for the limited performances by Edun and Ukweli Roach. For example, the entire “Queen Mab” speech was performed as if impromptu—Mercutio keeps going merely because no one has stopped him yet—but Cumbus ended the scene crying, a believable journey for a character who, in this production, has not yet truly faced the challenges of maturity and adulthood. The incidental music, both light and eerie, made this moment even more memorable, highlighting the poignant and tremulous emotions evoked on stage.

Other performances of note included a delightful and light-hearted Penny Layden as Juliet’s Nurse; her comic turns were pitch-perfect, and she developed a special rapport with the audience which allowed her to shift into pathos toward the end of the play. While her blacked-out tooth was a bit “hickish,” Layden’s confidence and professionalism stood out on the Globe stage. Equally notable, despite much less “face time,” was Ian Redford as Lord Capulet. Of all the actors, his was easily the most booming and powerful voice, and he used it to its maximum effect in the rebuke scene (3.5). After Capulet’s lengthy tirade on his daughter’s disobedience and his threat to disown her, the audience erupted into spontaneous applause at his masterful delivery. While a touch disconcerting to hear such approval, given what had just been said, it was certainly impressive to see the speech have such an effect on the audience. I wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen Redford reenter and take a bow!

Moments like this were few and far between, however, and the play struggled as it worked its way towards the inevitable conclusion. Partially hampering that journey, surprisingly, was the set. Simon Daw created an iron spiral staircase that dominated the center of the tiring-house front, connecting the stage floor with the upper level; while giving characters something...