A voguish young movie star, onstage cameras, microphones placed conspicuously around a bare stage as well as taped to the actors’ cheeks, smoke, blinding flashes of white light, a continuous background hum as of a trapped hornet – how quickly the trademarks of a Jamie Lloyd production have become clichéd and predictable.
Editing the text to suit his vision and cutting ‘extraneous’ characters, Lloyd has fashioned what he imagines to be an adaptation for the era. But the intelligence and imagination that went into his similarly radical versions of Cyrano and Sunset Blvd are entirely absent here.
Giant close-ups of shiny faces, live feeds from backstage and even scenes shot in the foyer are mere technical gestures, conceptual liggers who bring nothing to the party. As Romeo, Tom Holland is a charisma free zone, achieving the unlikely feat of being both buff and weedy.
While this may be the right combination for Peter Parker/Spiderman it leaves Romeo dangling as a background character. As Juliet, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers has more presence, though Lloyd seems reluctant to pursue the idea of ‘two houses both alike in dignity’ but racially divided; the theme of miscegenation is unexplored, even in the forced intimacy of whispered dialogue and faltering chemistry.
The post industrial setting suggests an arid, monochrome metropolis in which Romeo and his associates roam like human rodents, whispering in the gloom Everything is black, grey and dull, leached of colour both visually and verbally.
Freema Agyeman’s flirty Nurse is notable and I liked Joshua Alexander-Williams’ swaggering gangsta Mercutio, though his potential is crushed beneath the imposed style of delivery (whisper, whisper, whisper, SHOUT) that neuters the impact of his Queen Mab speech.
As Capulet, Tomiwa Edun is the only actor who carries the emotional weight of a real human being rather than succumbing to Lloyd’s directorial tyranny. I am all for putting old wine in new bottles but I would admire him far more if he chose a new, untested play rather than continually remodelling established texts.
The woman sitting next to me was a Holland fan, judging by her reaction on his entrance. Having slept through all of the second half, she joined the herd in a standing ovation. Absolute drivel.
Romeo and Juliet is playing at Duke of York’s Theatre until August 3 – Tickets: 0844 871 7623
https://www.thedukeofyorks.com/romeo-and-juliet
