Review: Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare North Playhouse
One of the things I love most about the works of Willliam Shakespeare is their infinite capacity for adaptation, interpretation and innovation.
But to exploit these qualities, you need inspired creatives to make the most of them and there is an overwhelming number of such talents involved in Graeae theatre company’s version of Romeo and Juliet which is currently at the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot.
For four decades, Graeae has been providing opportunities for Deaf, Disabled and neurodivergent performers to show what they are capable of in an artistic environment and here they have created a vision of arguably the Bard’s most famous play that is unlike any previously staged.
Under the exceptional guidance of director Jenny Sealey, it must be getting on for 10 minutes before we heard a single Shakespearean word due to a clever and insightful framing device that is just one of many ways in which this show takes its audience by surprise.
It begins with BSL interpreters Craig Painting and Irmina St Catherine entering the performance area to make an announcement and it takes a few moments before you realise the play is actually under way and we are witnessing the arrival of actors waiting to audition as extras but who seem unaware of what the work is going to be.
This is a disconcerting opening that has an almost Orwellian sinister quality to it as anonymous declarations are made over a tannoy while also appearing on screens above their heads (the gloriously inventive titles are an absolute joy in themselves!) until a script magically drops from the sky and they realise they are auditioning for Romeo and Juliet.
With admirable defiance, they decide that rather than wait to see if they have been allocated bit parts, they are going to stage their own version of the play right there and then but with an anything goes daring that is exhilarating.
They literally cast the parts as they go along but the twist of real ingenuity comes when the actors really start to dig deep into the action and you have two different sets of performers portraying Romeo and Juliet at the same time - one verbally, the other using sign language.
Somehow this not only doubles the drama and emotion of the scene but also lends the production a kind of balletic movement that is simply breathtaking - not least when the four people performing the scene frequently switch partners and then brilliantly interact with the other actor playing the same part.
The quartet which pulls this off so spectacularly consists of Shreya M Patel and Cherie Gordon as Juliet and Ciaran Forrest and Petre Dobre as Romeo.
Elsewhere, Reece Pantry gets the chance to play up the comedy by taking a number of roles in R&J while throwing out knowing asides such as ‘It all goes downhill from here’; Rheanon Lee starts off as Juliet but ends up as Lady Capulet which she plays with such relish her big scene ticking off her daughter justifiably received a round of applause; while Kellan Frankland made the most of every chance to emphasise the humour inherent in the character of the Nurse.
A word also about the aforementioned Craig Painting who is a constant presence in his role as interpreter but ends up making many different and telling contributions not least with his endlessly hilarious facial expressions!
Obviously another big advantage for the company is the sheer quality of the original material - I have lost count of how many productions of Romeo and Juliet I have seen over the years but it never fails to draw me into its ultimately tragic drama even when it is presented in such a self-aware and largely light-hearted manner as this.
But the power of the story and the way it is presented here is demonstrated right at the end when Petre Dobre, playing the signing version of Romeo, expresses his grief at the death of Juliet with a verbal explosion that is genuinely shocking.
The entire show, including interval, comes in at two hours which also makes the production accessible in ways other than its diverse cast and crew for I would strongly recommend this to anyone who, for whatever reason, has found the prospect of live Shakespeare too daunting or intimidating - they could find this the perfect introduction to the canon.
Romeo and Juliet can be seen at the Shakespeare North Playhouse until October 5
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