Romeo.Juliet by Purple Door Theatre Review
Written by Roby for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
Purple Door Theatre attempts to tackle one of the Bard’s most classic plays in their production Romeo.Juliet - a re-contextualising of Romeo and Juliet in a working-class early 2000s setting.
They tackle this challenge well, and certainly play to the Kings Arms’ strengths, utilising the venue’s intimate nature to create tense and vulnerable atmospheres. Karl Falconer’s direction and adaptation is good; some moments of the show are really strong, particularly the Capulet house tensions within the second half of the show. The adaptation blends aspects of modern-day news well with the original Shakespearean text to create a thought-provoking piece. However, at times, the overall creative vision of the show can be slightly inconsistent. The ending of the play is quite confusing, and the breaking of the fourth wall comes across as quite abrupt. I also found it a strange choice that the final scene of the play was largely told through the medium of silent film. Just a strange choice for a modern adaptation of the play.
As well as the direction, the aesthetic of the show can also be somewhat inconsistent. The early 2000s vibe is strong throughout the opening of the show - Romeo FaceTimes Friar Laurence for advice, uses a PC, and Juliet texts him “where4 art thou r0meo”. These are all great and complement the vibe of the show well, however, this aesthetic is quickly lost throughout the second half of the show. Some of the video design (Holly Carver) can also lose some of the 2000s aesthetic. For example, many news videos show. clips that are obviously from Covid, yet the play appears to be set in the 2000s? Similarly to the direction, whilst the design has strong moments throughout the play, it ultimately appears somewhat inconsistent.
However, what the show lacks in consistency, it makes up for in its talented, committed cast. The whole group handle the text with ease and works extremely hard throughout the performance. James Sprague (Romeo) and Tesni Docherty Bowen (Juliet) lead the company well and have great chemistry. Jasmine McIvor (Lady Capulet / Lady Montague) and Reice Carmichael (Capulet) similarly have strong chemistry together through moments of love and tension. Philipe Noel Rose (Mercutio) stands out throughout the show, and particularly during his Queen Mab monologue. Amber King (Nurse, Escalus) also gives a great performance, opening the show with a strong start and jumping between characters well. Generally, throughout the show, some tenser, more aggressive scenes can be overly shouty, and as a result, the characters can lack some dimension, but ultimately the cast do an incredible job and are extremely impressive.
Overall l, for a show that takes place above a pub, I was very impressed by the talent on offer. Romeo.Juliet is a daring and promising show that, if made more consistent throughout, could be something really exciting. Keep an eye on what Purple Door Theatre go on to do in the future… I certainly will.
★★★★
