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Show: ROMEO and JULIET
Society: Creation Theatre Company (professional)
Venue: A MULTI-PLATFORM DIGITAL THEATRE PRODUCTION - performed live on Zoom
Credits: By William Shakespeare. Produced by CHARLIE MORLEY. CREATION THEATRE in partnership with WATFORD PALACE THEATRE
Type: Sardines
Author: J Smith
Performance Date: 16/05/2021
Romeo & Juliet
J Smith | 17 May 2021 21:29pm
The raison d’etre of Creation Theatre Company is to creatively interpret the classics, and with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, their ninth digital performance, they do just that. Unfortunately, perhaps because it’s the company’s first time of using a multi-platform of digital media, mixing live real time performance, pre-filmed scenes, and the audience picking their own adventure style gameshow, the array of technologies used do not produce a cohesive whole, and the general effect is one of disjuncture and fragmentation.
The production, in partnership with Watford Theatre, is like the curate’s egg, good in parts, in fact very good in lots of parts, but the story itself which lies at its heart is overwhelmed by swirling colours, insistent background music, and the effects of the same character multiplied many times on screen. One can accept this if it is felt to be significant, but I see none in nurse being visually cloned nine times at one point, or, at the opening of the play, Capulet and Montague represented as grotesque amorphous shapes in pink and green, their opening lines muffled by the sound effects of an ensuing scuffle.
We’re told beforehand, ‘Fate and destiny skills will be put to the test upon entering Verona. Audiences will find themselves at the Capulet party, caught up in the drama they will journey through a multitude of different theatrical pathways and unlock secret moments and experiences. With at least one hundred possible variations, individuals will decide outcomes and see a unique and enthralling show influenced by their choices.’
Pre-show we’re given the choice of being a Capulet or a Montague. I flip a coin and it falls Capulet side up. I get dressed up a bit, as advised, for the Montague party, maybe in disguise, the info suggests. I notice other press zoomers are not dressed up, apart from one wearing a monster mask, and another sporting a jaunty hat. The promised party takes place in a room where we watch colourfully shaded characters in modern dress bop about, and of which we are not part. Maybe we should bop.
Fate and destiny are central motifs of this production, and after an initial zoom session, we’re offered choices of playing cards, which transport us to corresponding platforms. One pair of cards read, ‘Have a beer with nurse’ or ‘Have a cocktail’. I choose a beer, but find nurse swigging wine from a bottle with Juliet, toasting ‘Cheers Big Ears’. Another is ‘Open the Door’ or ‘Pretend to be Asleep’. At another point I have a chance to visit a secret bathroom in Verona.
Digital platforms aren’t easy, but it’s strange the way the characters face forwards, often in very close focus, producing a feeling that they’re addressing us, rather than each other.
The direction by Natasha Rickman must have been very difficult in isolation during a pandemic, and it does have the feel of a sum of parts. A number of things don’t ring true, and I struggle to empathize with the characters. Juliet’s mother applying make-up in very close shot before the party, is seemingly little interested in her daughter, but later, appears distraught at her death. The nurse’s wild comic lamenting, overacting for the benefit of Capulet when Juliet feigns death, falls quite flat.
The acting is good. Annabelle Terry as Juliet, and Kofi Dennis, work well together, particularly in the latter scenes. Sebastian Capitan Viveros, although little seen, is strong and dynamic in the part of Tybalt, dressed in angry red. Speech is for the most part clear, and I do at times close my eyes, to just listen to the actors.
Fate and destiny are canny devises to use to shape a production of the star-crossed lovers; although like fate and destiny, they can put a spanner in the works.
The show lasts a little over two hours, and I’m flagging towards the end. It’s possible that a younger audience will be more at home with the multi interlacing effects of the show, finding them congruous with modern communications; although if they don’t know the story, may struggle.
A bold and brave attempt to go where few theatre companies have gone before, and which in time will I’m sure, become part of the future of theatre. The show runs until the 23 May.