PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Bierkeller Theatre, Bristol (Tue 14-Thur 23 Feb)

THEATRE We know how it goes: boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy and girl haven’t really thought this through (see in-laws), boy loses girl to non-prescription drugs. Forgive flippancy, but what can another ‘Romeo and Juliet’ offer our discerning Venue theatregoers? The story had already been told at least three times before Shakespeare got his writing chops to it, so he doesn’t own the rights to these star-cross’d lovers. Still, in this latest version, when Romeo sighs, ‘I do love a woman’, there’s an added frisson. Juliet is a young cloistered Catholic girl. Romeo’s a romantic sword-waving thigh slapper – oh, and female.

We’re at the fourth production to be staged at Bristol’s Bierkeller Theatre, a city centre music venue now playing host to local, national and international companies. Beyond the typical clubbers’ black door, the first-floor space is a bit gloomy and chilly (though it is undergoing refurbishment). Yet walk around the bar and immediately the possibilities for making exciting theatre are apparent. For this show from Bristol’s Thrice Three Muses we sit on long benches. The playing area is traverse with an end stage, so that much of the action is in front and among us, which feels intimate and authentic (though being side-on to the stage can result in a sort of Wimbledon finals neck-ache). The play starts with a good scrap and sets the tone from the mostly young 20-strong cast. From expectations of the masked feast where Romeo and his horny gang speak all the gibberish associated with myriad teenage emotions to dark presentiments of how it will play out, this is an ambitious and thoughtful interpretation of the tragedy.

In terms of gender reversal, the company flyer aims at a “daring twist on the classic text, exploring [among other things] lesbianism…” On this showing, there isn’t much evidence that it is a theme – and that isn’t meant as a negative observation. What director Ben Hughes-Games (with assistance from June Trask and Robin Peters) cleverly does is let our beardy bard tell it like it is. You can’t go wrong with lines like, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other word would smell as sweet”, while leaving us to add any implications of emergent sexuality. Ultimately we believe these lovers adore each other. Juliet (sweetness and defiance from Maia Ayling) shows the consequences of censored love and particularly shines in a strong enforced-marriage scene. Jasmine Smart as Romeo gives a clear reading of the melodramatic kid whose blinkered quest causes devastation to both houses.

There’s good support: Callum Buckler plays Mercutio with just enough swagger and energy. Benvolio (Steve Leanaghan) has natural fluidity with the verse while Matt D Rushton’s Paris is a deluded victim of Capulet machinations. It’s a long night and the pace inevitably slips due to the odd problem with lines from senior cast, and the delivery gets a little stuck in a groove. Never mind, this show really deserves a look. It feels real in the telling and whatever the angle, gives a bold stab (so to speak) at sharing what it is to be young, to be in love and to hate your parents. (Kerry Hood)

Copyright Kerry Hood 2012