Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Joe Woodward
Daramalan Theatre Company
Joe Woodward Theatre, Dickson to 3 May
Reviewed by Len Power 26 April 2025
One of Shakespeare’s most well-known and accessible plays,
‘Romeo & Juliet’ encourages us to think about our own personal
relationships and the decisions we make that affect others. But is there more
to this story of the ‘star-crossed lovers’? In Joe Woodward’s new production,
there is an examination of ancient and shadowy revelations that may have more
bearing on the decisions we make. It’s a challenging and fascinating way to
consider this most moving of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It applies to our world
and our current actions, too, not just to the world of those young lovers.
Using a circular thrust stage, background projections and
the considerable height of the theatre, director, Woodward, who also designed
the production, creates a haunting, shadowy atmosphere for the play that is
often startlingly effective. The careful use of music, including the love theme
by Nino Rota of Zeffirelli’s 1968 film of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and the Flower
Duet from Delibes’ opera, ‘Lakme’, adds a great deal of atmosphere to this
production. The singers, Ruby Gifford and Ruby Holden, give a fine performance
of the Delibes aria.
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| Oscar Lee (Romeo) and Evie Nicholls (Juliet) |
As Juliet, Evie Nicholls gives a performance full of fire in
the early scenes and, as Juliet falls in love, she gives the role an increasing
tenderness that is quite touching. Oscar Lee plays Romeo with a toughness that
contrasts nicely with his later romantic scenes with Juliet. The sudden change in
his emotions during the balcony scene is quite effective, making Romeo’s
discovery of the power of love quite believable.
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| Oscar Lee (Romeo) and Tybalt (Zac Olsen) |
Performances from the large cast show a good understanding
of the vision of this production. Vocal delivery is often uneven with a lack of
projection in some cases and a tendency to speak too fast, so that the meaning
and poetry of the words are lost. However, it takes years to perfect this and,
for a student cast starting their journey in the world of theatre performance,
they do very well overall.
The finale of the play, with the lovers’ deaths staged and
performed simply, is especially touching. This is a fine and clear production
with a thoughtful perspective that adds new depth to this great play.
Photos supplied by the production.
Len
Power’s reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and
‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog ‘Just Power Writing’ at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.
