ROMEO AND JULIET AT THE ASHCROFT THEATRE, FAIRFIELD HALL, CROYDON

ROMEO AND JULIET AT THE ASHCROFT THEATRE, FAIRFIELD HALL, CROYDON 

 This production of Romeo and Juliet at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, attempted to contextualise Shakespeare's great romantic tragedy within relevant, contemporary themes of knife crime and gang violence in south London. Using pop music and back projected newspaper excerpts, the director attempted to bring the play up to date, to emphasize its completely constant relevance. It largely followed in the footsteps of Baz Luhrmann's film version of 1996 but also stopped short of the baroque excesses and occasional silliness of that production.

The director seemed to fail to pursue the contemporary themes throughout the play, leaving them to dangle in space at the very beginning. After this initially successful sequence the production reverted to an old-fashioned interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, thus making the bare, sparse mise en scene and contemporary dress a bit purposeless. Unlike Double Falsehood the point of staging Romeo and Juliet is not to prove it is actually by the Bard but to point up its contemporary relevance. The initial impetus of the play stalled among some predictable Shakespeare stuff, although the acting and production values were always thorough and professional. However, the lack of consistency of engagement by the director and the production values meant this version of Romeo and Juliet is still not much more than a visual introduction of the play to schoolchildren. Perhaps, and I think this is probably the case, nothing much more was intended, then it might be worth embarking on two versions, an evening version and a matinee for the inevitable coach loads of children who will definitely want to see this.

After the play there was a great cabaret in the bar area and some boxing in the hall and, all in all, this play is definitely recommended although not for Shakespeare purists who would probably prefer to stay in or around the West End anyway. The bar and restaurant facilities were also first rate.

 Paul Murphy, Croydon, February 2011

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