Romeo + Juliet, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre - review
Romeo & Juliet has had the cobwebs dusted off and granted a whole new, modern persona filled with hoodies, pocket knives, and the neon lights of a modern nightclub - Capulet's.
Paul Hart's modernised production of Shakespeare's all-consuming love story headed to Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre.
These violent delights have violent ends, with star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet defying their feuding families and risking everything to find love in the fair city of Verona.
Though modernised, the show still maintains the plays famous Shakespearean dialect in all of it's glory - following a format similar to the 2013 Baz Luhrmann film adaptation.
The small cast utilise every single piece of the set, really giving the illusion that they are in the illustrious city of Verona. Ever-changing lighting, re-purposing costume pieces and frequently moving set pieces left the stage effortlessly transformed and showcased a great deal of thought about how they would convey the famous narrative.
Stuart Wilde encapsulated the love-struck Romeo perfectly - swooning with every inch of his body the moment he laid eyes on his one true love Juliet, played by Aruhan Galieva. Galieva gave Juliet a rebellious and headstrong streak as she defied her family head-first in blazing rows. Instead of being sweet and coy around Romeo - she remained proud, strong and thoroughly in control of what she wanted which immediately made the audience putty in her hands.
However, sometimes her powerful lines became lost as she spoke at a light-speed pace that often became even more confusing with the juxtaposed look of the show.
Comedy featured heavily in the play, with Victoria Blunt as Benvolio and Offue Okegbe as Mercutio forming a lovable duo filled with stolen Capulet liquor, wild actions and perfectly timed lines that frequently had the audience cackling with laughter.
Stand-out performer Lauryn Redding as The Nurse shone throughout the performance, inducing tears over her devotion to Juliet and her ultimate heartbreak over her demise. She embodied matronly authority from start to finish and never once broke character, even at the side of the stage she was still fiddling with her clipboard and looking Romeo up and down with a careful eye.
Jamie Satterhwaite as Capulet had similar emotional power over the audience, both endearing them with his love for his only daughter and shocking them into an almost suffocating silence as his rage over her defiance threatened violence.
Villain of the piece, Peter Dukes as Tybalt, was a whirlwind of temper at every moment as he skulked and shook with rage as soon as a Montague graced the stage. Once dead, his movement became fluid and chillingly ghostly.
As well as the script, the story was told through a variety of dance and modern musical numbers that brought the great Capulet club night to life - and endeavoured to keep the two hour and fifty minute long show engrossing.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, as the show comes to a climactic end with the lovers facing their demise and the full cast reciting the last iconic lines of the play. Though rough around the edges in places, the cast made this work to their advantage and did everything in their power to execute the famous play with the gravity that it deserved.
The acting on display showcased a great deal of talent, a display that will once again be on show tonight as they take on another famous Shakespeare play, the Twelfth Night.
