Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Nicky Allpress
Updating Romeo & Juliet to 1981 and within the 2-Tone subculture, which promoted racial harmony through music and fashion, certainly sounds good on paper, and a few of those in the audience old enough to remember the era came in their DMs and Sta-Press. But ultimately, Madness and The Specials add little to Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Fortunately, there is still much to like in this edited version. Not only is it shorter, running at 105 minutes straight through, but there are also only six actors, some of them doubling up, and even tripling up. The set, neither pretty nor useful, is fairly economical too. This is Shakespeare on a shoestring. But despite the makeshift aesthetic, the star-crossed lovers manage to sparkle.
Set in Brixton, rather than Coventry, the home of 2-Tone, there’s little sense of who the Montagues and the Capulets are. There’s no explanation of why they are fighting against each other, and the footage of the Brixton Riots projected on to the set, only shows another war, that between black youth and the police. Sirens sound, and Pork Pie hats abound, but the rivalry of the two families stands outside the 1980s. This production doesn’t help explain the resistance to Thatcher’s early years and neither does it shine new light on this most enduring of plays.
While the ska beats are often heard in the background, only once does director Nicky Allpress provide some real song and dance and that is, of course, the party at which Romeo and Juliet meet. It’s a wonderful moment; the Nurse plays saxophone to the sound of Madness’ One Step Beyond, and the cast break out into the spiky jive that the 2-Toners adopted. Samuel Tracey’s Romeo is particularly light on his toes. But apart from this one song, the rest of the 1980s is pretty much incidental.
Tracey’s Romeo and Laura Lake Adebisi’s Juliet are convincing lovers and the balcony scene is played very well. Both are excited teenagers, scared of saying the wrong thing, trying hard not to come across as too interested. Adebisi speaks the lines smoothy, finding the metre but still managing to give her Juliet some spark of her own and the moment she lets slip that her lover is Romeo is electric with tension. Tracey is just as good and plays Romeo as an innocent even after Tybalt’s murder; Tracey stares at his bloody hands, not quite sure how they have been stained red.
As is usual in Romeo & Juliet, the young lovers are upstaged by the Nurse, and this production is no different. In a barnstorming performance by Amy Loughton, this Nurse is a no-nonsense, Welsh busybody and who, when doing the laundry, hands out Y-fronts to the audience. She gets the most laughs of the evening, and it’s a shame she never brings out her saxophone again. Poor Joey Ellis has to play three roles, but apart from a Crombie there is not much difference between his Prince and Mercutio; both are shouty and laddish. Better is his foppish Paris, with the Hugh Grant wig.
Yinka Awani brings a Jamaican twang to Benvolio, and his Friar Laurence is a lovely composite of Arthur Daley and quack. Fiona Skinner plays Juliet’s mother as if she is East End royalty. It’s a shame that the cast seem to be in such a rush to get their lines out. Perhaps this production would work better with an interval, and then some of the scenes could be played a little slower. Both audience and cast might find it more rewarding.
At one point, Awani’s Friar starts talking about isolation and a virus, and while funny, it shows that the 2-Tone era has been truly forgotten. As a version of Romeo & Juliet this is good, but those expecting a closer connection with the early 80s might be disappointed.
Runs until 5 February 2022