TThe theatre world has been full of controversy lately. Some of it has been nasty. Shortly after it was announced that Francesca Ameuda-Rivers had been cast as Juliet to Tom Holland’s Romeo, the Jamie Lloyd Company released a statement explaining that she had been subjected to a “barrage” of racism and misogyny online. Strong support for Ameuda-Rivers, who is black, quickly emerged in an open letter signed by more than 800 people. But it’s her performance that really knocks the poor bullies off their feet. She is one of the best Juliets I’ve ever seen.
And what’s more… Romeo and Juliet From the neck-shaking Lloyd, the acting constantly subverts expectations. The cast is surprisingly young, with Freema Agyeman’s lively nurse a more than a chatty matron. West Side StoryDaniel Quinn-Towey, in his stage debut, imbues hapless Paris with wide-eyed pathos, but it’s intensity rather than frenzy that dominates. There are no balcony clambers, and parts of the play proceed with static dialogue. Fight scenes are cut to black (John Clark’s lighting is dim and gloomy), so there’s nothing between the flashpoints and their consequences (bloody vests and motionless figures). There are no readings, more intimate whispers (everyone is miked), but never silence. Sound design wizards Ben and Max Ringham pump a constant drone of low-level unease throughout the action, occasionally hastening alarms with thumping drums.
Nobody is classy. Holland ( Billy Elliot His poems, from long before he was Spider-Man, are light but condensed, not steeped in romanticism, and the tears flow easily. Amoeba Rivers is bright, spirited (she gets the first kiss), and sharp. I have never heard “What’s in a Name?” examined with such precise wonder. Together, they often bounce humorously off each other, punctuating the poems with 21st-century inflections. Romeo grins with triumph at the praise he receives, and Juliet frolics with a pout.
Like his work Sunset BoulevardLloyd lets his camera follow the characters’ movements, onstage and backstage, not always to his advantage. A magical cut to Holland on the roof of a theater in front of a neon sign reading “Mantua” and some close-ups that detract from the intimacy of real people conversing in the dark. But Romeo and Juliet remain undiminished, shining as big stars rather than “cut into little stars.”
GraeaeThe company was founded to combat expectations placed on artists with disabilities. Romeo and Juliet (September 13th – October 26thThe Globe Theatre’s artistic director, Michelle Terry, faced fierce protests when she announced that she would be taking on the lead role in the show. Richard IIIThe League of Disabled Artists declared, “The role belongs to us. It is offensive and disturbing to have Richard played by someone outside our community.”
I have no visible or hidden disability. I’d like to think that doesn’t significantly lessen my sympathy, but it clearly shapes my perspective. It’s clear that the stage deprives disabled actors of their talents. But I am uneasy with the idea of a group of actors having the exclusive right to play certain parts, and I believe greater progress would come from regularly challenging the default casting of all characters. Before the attacks on Lloyd’s work, I took it for granted that white people (even Etonians) had no right to priority playing Shakespearean roles. Apparently this is not the case.
Indeed, the accusation that Terry is emulating a disability is inaccurate: she doesn’t shuffle or prowl in an Olivier-esque way. Elle Whilst’s script is stripped of any reference to a misshapen or imperfect body. This is a drama about a charismatic bully. Of course, there is a loss in exploring the difficult relationship between Richard’s sense of disability and his personality, but it does reveal key elements. The predominantly female direction (Helen Schlesinger is a silky Buckingham in parrot hair and City suits) underlines the fact that the women who suffered multiple bereavements at Richard’s hands and were coerced into sleeping with him tell their truths without ever being heard.
There are a few odd Trump references thrown in, unnecessary but not incongruous. Terry makes the parallels clear: pumps, gold trousers, pale wig, tiny finger movements, the way he cajoles the crowd, the blatant lies, the moodiness, the brutal misogyny. Terry’s king is a lethal child. On an electrifying, volatile night, she stands out from the rest. A real glove. As rain drips off the thatched roofs, the spectators on the ground gather in plastic ponchos and druid-like head coverings.
Last week the Young Vic appointed a new artistic director. Nadia Fall, who currently runs Stratford East, will succeed Kwame Kwei-Armah in January. Fall is from Southwark and her parents are South Asian. Oh, and she’s not a man. Slowly, London theatre is becoming less predominantly white and male. But let’s not speculate about the programme after that.
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Strange PassingThe musical “The Night Before Christmas” by Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, which opened on Broadway in 2008 and is currently having its European premiere, explores such assumptions. OthelloThe achievement of was both “seemingly strange” and “seemingly normal” at the same time. With a twist. The protagonist aims to be seen not as a white man, but as a version of the black musician we all expect. “Do you play jazz… do you play the blues?” A middle-class young man from the ghetto stumbles out of LA and his doting mother and into Europe, where he must reshape his ideas of the other. Liesel Tommy’s production, with its fluorescent mohawks, ripped fishnet stockings and toilet-loving performance work, leaps out of ’80s Amsterdammers and Berliners, offering up a satirical skit about the Nouvelle Vague. Thankfully, the Brits don’t get the chance.
The lyrics have a light slide, “A melody for every ill,” says Giles.Hamilton) Terrera. But while the production insists on delivering its message about art and life, it never quite gets it across. The over-amplified music only adds to the evening, not the excitement.
Star rating (5 stars)
Romeo and Juliet ★★★★
Richard III ★★★
Strange Passing ★★★
