Theatre Review: Juliet and Romeo, Chelsea Theatre
★★★★★
The story of Romeo and Juliet told against the backdrop of modern London and Covid-19. With a twist - Juliet has Romeo’s lines, and Romeo has Juliet’s. And it really works.
This production is the perfect example of why we should always keep an open mind free of pre judgement. Because hearing “youth theatre”, “Shakespeare mixed with modern London slang”, “Romeo and Juliet’s lines switched” and it’s easy to assume you’re going to see something pedestrian. That absolutely could not be further from the truth. What I saw was something incredibly special.
Every single young person in this cast is astoundingly talented. In particular, Megan Samuel, who plays Romeo’s older sister Capo could walk into any theatre in London and give any professional actor on that stage a run for their money. The change of gender roles adds a really lovely dynamic, where we see a vulnerability to Romeo, and a cheekiness to Juliet that we don’t see in more traditional versions of the play.
And having the story play out in modern London adds a really interesting dynamic, because the themes of 1597 translate so well to 2021. Montague vs Capulet in 1597 is gang culture in 2021, a plague in 1597, is Covid-19 in 2021. Family allegiances in 1597 is postcode loyalty in 2021. All of this gives the chance for commentary on social inequality, knife crime, police relations, from the perspective of real young people.
A woman sat by me said “I go to the theatre a lot, but I’ve never seen anything like this, I’m mind blown.” And for me the reason that rings true is because theatre at it’s best has purpose. I have seen Shakespeare done in a traditional sense, at The Globe. And it’s fine. But it has no purpose further than putting on a Shakespeare play. This version is so special because it has purpose. It meant so much to the young people on stage, and that reached out to the audience.
Intermission Youth Theatre will be performing at the Chelsea Theatre Wednesday-Saturday until December 4th 2021.