REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet, Hope Street Theatre
RUBBISH Shakespeare Company squeeze the Bard's tragic romance into a family-friendly hour of farce in this knowingly silly productionIt's a no-frills show, to say the least; and the cast mine the tiny budget for laughs, from opening credits hand-written on sheets of A4 to comically ratty wigs.Their Romeo and Juliet is a frenetic 60 minutes of fourth wall-breaking, slightly improvised, lovingly ludicrous action that drags the audience along for an enjoyably daft ride. The ratio of Shakespearean verse to company shenanigans is probably around the 40-60 percent mark. And to confidently mess with the formula to such an extent hints they might just know what they're doing - although you get the impression this particular RSC would never say so.The all-male cast of four - Mark Lea, Lee Hithersay, Clem Studholm and Alex McDonald - dress in simple coloured t-shirts, welcome the audience on arrival and play exaggerated versions of themselves as well as their allocated parts in the play - constantly breaking character for asides to the crowd. They are a team that works well together, clearly enjoying the mix of storytelling and silliness; "excuse me, we're a step up from panto", they declare with mock indignation, immediately after setting up a classic 'it's behind you' gag.Audience participation from children, while not required, certainly helps to shape the performance. On this occasion, the youngsters in the audience gave as good as they got, with no shortage of volunteers to assist with proceedings. The show is suitable for kids aged four upwards, and as such does not have time to get bogged down into the more adult themes of the play or nuances of its slimmed-down cast of characters.There's the feeling this show could be a bit different every performance, and it's the expertise of the performers that keeps a show like this, that looks as if it could spiral out of control at any moment, on the rails. But on the whole, if the Muppet Show did Shakespeare with a big dollop.of kid-friendly sass, you might end up with something like this Romeo and Juliet.
