British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database
Romeo and Juliet (2012): Headlong
CAST INCLUDED: Daniel Boyd (Romeo); Okezie Morro (Tybalt); Tom Mothersdale (Mercutio); Catrin Stewart (Juliet); Brigid Zengeni (Nurse).
This production was first produced at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, where it ran from 7 - 18 February 2012 before touring.
"From its opening moments, when a digital clock starts to count the minutes, Icke offers a story in which elements of time and fate are compressed and heightened. In places it's like Sliding Doors, suggesting alternative scenarios: Romeo and Juliet's paths never cross at the party, and the horseplay of Romeo's friends means the Nurse fails to deliver the message from Juliet to Romeo. It employs the cross-cutting techniques of movies and TV with startling aplomb, and plays on the drama's presentiments of disaster through dreams and hallucinations. The text is cut (no bad thing), but this never feels like concept Shakespeare. Instead it offers momentts of real clarity on the impossible relationship between Juliet and her mother, the echoing tomb that is the Capulet marriage, the fate awaiting Juliet had she married Paris and the violence that underlies Veronese society." ~ Lyn Gardner, "Romeo and Juliet, Nuffield, Southampton", The Guardian, 9 February 2012
"The supporting performances are, without exception, terrific....Brigid Zengeni's Nurse is a scream: a warm, indiscreet shopaholic in patent yellow heels." ~ Kate Kellaway, "Star-crossed lovers with teen spirit", Observer, 12 February 2012
"Unfortunately, Robert Icke's direction seems to be suffering from a nasty attack of Goold-itis. This revival is so hip it hurts, so flash it blinds you - literally so when, for no discernible reason, the auditorium gets repeated blasts of intensely bright light between scenes....Some of the supporting performances lend a commendable authority:...there's fine, bustling work from Brigid Zengeni as the Nurse. The leads, though, are uneven." ~ Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph, 18 February 2012, in Theatre Record 2012, Issue 3
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