Time out london juliet shardlow8/31/2023 ![]() ![]() It was at this second theatre – The Curtain – that the Lord Chamberlain’s Men staged plays such as Romeo and Juliet and Henry V. Yet it was such a success on opening that, one year later, another theatre was erected two hundred yards away. It would have taken supreme confidence to imagine that it might survive for a year, especially when its prototype (The Red Lion playhouse in Whitechapel) seems to have lasted little more than six months. ![]() Indeed most London residents would have bet upon the Theatre being a pop-up disappointment. The Theatre was a risky venture: it was expensive, without much recent precedent, and plagued by contractual loopholes and circumscriptions. It helped cement Shoreditch’s reputation as an entertainment district – a place to have sex (in one of its many brothels), or a drink (in one of its many taverns), or a stroll (in one of its many green spaces). This was perhaps the first freestanding purpose-built public theatre in England. The swordplay in their fatal duel is thrillingly fast and furious, and Avis makes Tybalt’s distress at watching his foe writhing in his dying agonies touchingly convincing.In 1580 Shoreditch couldn’t offer many brioche buns, but it was home to one of the most important pop-ups of all time: The Theatre. She’s better at conveying Juliet’s dread-filled maturity after the wedding night, and the chilly distance that rather hampers her love story comes into its own when she displays her icy disdain for Ryoichi Hirano’s Paris.Įlsewhere, of particular note, Gary Avis brings lowering presence and dramatic complexity as Tybalt Alexander Campbell’s Mercutio is full of charm and spirit as Romeo’s companion. The pair seem delighted with each other’s company in the pivotal balcony duet, but not exactly prepared to fling themselves into the void for love. Lamb, meanwhile, never really finds Juliet’s hectic teenage passion. But there’s absolutely no spark when he actually gets his hands on his girl. McRae’s Romeo has a convincingly larky, couldn’t-give-a-4X boyishness about him to start with, and he looks positively drunk on a rush of dopamine when Cupid’s arrow strikes. They both excel at using the stillness woven into the piece to best dramatic advantage.Īnd yet… there’s something lacking in the dramatic interpretation. Lamb, with those endless slender legs scissoring through her jumps, is exquisitely pretty in her preciseness McRae can combine speed and control to devastating effect in his bravura solo moments. ![]() Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae certainly have one half of the equation nailed: their technical mastery is a joy to watch, and brings many small details in the steps into brilliantly sharp focus. The challenge for its principal couples is to convey the heartbreaking, full-tilt rush to the abyss of its star-cross’d lovers while doing justice to Macmillan’s magisterial choreography. ![]() Macmillan’s genius for mining the emotional intensity of a story has no better showcase than this production. It’s 50 years since Kenneth Macmillan’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was premiered and the perennial favourite still looks startlingly handsome. ![]()
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