| Romeo & Juliet | - Royal Exchange Theatre
- St Ann's Square, Manchester
- Director: Jacob Murray
- 7 September - 22 October 2005
- Box Office: 0161 833 9833
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Indeed, "Romeo and Juliet" must be among the most heavily plundered of the Bard's works for pithy, poetic phrases. Any play with "..parting is such sweet sorrow"; "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet"; and "O! She doth teach the torches to burn bright" is clearly a treasure trove for poetry freaks. In short, we know much of it before we've even bought a beer. Does that matter? Or should a director give this 'star cross'd lovers' classic a new spin? The Exchange's new kid on the block, Jacob Murray, goes for an updated look. It's Verona 1961. The warring families - Romeo's Montagues and Juliet's Capulets - become near-modern Mafioso enemies with chic dress sense and macho Italian style. Vespa scooters va-va-voom into set. Sharp Sixties drainpipe trousers, groovy tops and Jagger-esque shades slide on and off stage; and Lady Capulet, played by the stylish (and stylishly-named) Audrey Hepburn look-a-like Pooky Quesnel, added a distinct touch of class on her Royal Exchange debut. This is La Dolce Vita 60s style.  | | Juliet un-masqued |
For much of the play it works a treat. The famous masque scene, Romeo's intoxication with Juliet, is dealt with subtly and creatively. Andrew Garfield's angst-ridden, obsessively hair-stroking Romeo and the stunning Gugu Mbatha-Raw's breathless Juliet are the only characters to escape a clever freeze-frame effect: while the rest of the motionless cast are frozen in time for a moment, the ill-fated couple begin their doomed affair. As ever in R&J, one of the real stars of the show is Juliet's nurse played by the excellent Maggie McCarthy whose comic timing underlined her wealth of theatrical experience. A production which brought home the self-conscious yet dangerously stupid behaviour of the central characters, this was immensely well received by a packed house boasting several Coronation Street stars. On this evidence, despite the occasional bout of over-acting, it won't be long before a number of the actors on show get their small screen break. | 
