While any trip to the theatre is a joy and a privilege for me, occasionally something lifts the bar and the experience becomes “more than”. Those times when a production touches a place inside you and leaves you feeling full and empty at the same time, in line with your emotions being pulled to their extremities by characters that you’ll never meet again but somehow feel you know. Last night’s performance was definitely a “more than” event – truly great writing, brilliantly executed, phenomenal cast.
As the title suggested, Romeo and Julie takes its inspiration from the Bard’s classic Romeo and Juliet. While this is well-trodden ground as a storyline, Romeo and Julie genuinely feels fresh and unique. Gary Owen’s Romeo (Callum Scott Howells) is a single dad on the breadline with no one but his mum Barb for support, although Barb’s got her own issues and is more likely to have money for booze than babies. Julie (Rosie Sheehy) is an aspiring physicist on the path to Cambridge, whose ‘meet cute’ with Romeo occurs while she’s trying to study relativistic momentum at the same café that Romeo’s trying to take a sneaky nap in before his daughter wakes up.
The foreboding – much like in Romeo and Juliet – is obvious from the beginning; with Julie flatly telling Romeo not to fall in love with her and Julie’s step-mum Kath making her promise not to do anything to interfere with her university trajectory. But if you think you know this story, trust me – you do not. The characters are so clearly drawn that you’ll feel like you know them, each perfectly imperfect and struggling with their own shortcomings. Julie is smart and witty, Romeo is sweet and tender, but this is so much more than the classic “smart girl hot boy” dynamic. The twists and turns in the developing story will keep you gripped but it’s the characters that you quickly grow to love that will make you laugh out loud and move you to tears. So many of the themes prevalent in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet are present here too; sacrifice, loyalty, status to name but a few. There’s a richness to the story that I could spend hours examining and unpicking, but I’d much prefer you to be able to go and do that for yourself.
A word on the staging and the production which I thought were superb – gritty and powerful, minimalistic but perfectly practical. Director Rachel O’Riordan keeps each cast member on stage throughout, which to me spoke of their entrapment – in their situations, in Splott, in life. I found myself pitying them, rooting for them and enraged by them at different points throughout the play. Each performance is a triumph in its own right and collectively the cast is perfect. I’m not normally one for a standing ovation but I was on my feet whooping with the rest of the audience in a display of admiration that I felt was thoroughly deserved.
In short, I’m delighted to say that I can’t think of a bad word to say about this play. We might not be out of February but I’m already calling this as my 2023 production of the year. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know, if I can get tickets I’ll be seeing it again and I have no hesitation in urging you to book some yourself immediately.
Romeo and Julie is on at the National Theatre until 1st April https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/romeo-and-julie/
Reviewer: Zoё Meeres
Reviewed: 21st February 2023
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★★