Just when you think you’ve seen Romeo & Juliet enough times, a new version comes along to tempt you. And I’m very glad I succumbed and booked to see Noah Jupe and Sadie Sink play the fateful lovers at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre.
Twenty-one-year-old Jupe was a child actor who is growing up fast. Most recently, he was seen as Hamlet at the end of the film version of Hamnet (who is played by his younger brother Jacobi). In Romeo & Juliet, he is making his professional theatre debut, and it’s a good one. His Romeo is boyish and charming. And energetic, too. His frequent dashes up and down the aisles made me worry for an unplanned crash!
Having never watched Stranger Things, Sadie Sink is an actress I’d never heard of, but I can see her star appeal. Despite being a few years older than Jupe, she is fabulous as the teenage Juliet. Her responses to their new romance have all the hallmarks of a modern relationship. She’s awkward and hesitant, but also very funny in parts. And there’s no holding back on the emotion where things take a tragic turn.
Other standout performances in Romeo & Juliet are Clare Perkins as the cockney nurse and Clark Gregg as Juliet’s father. No doubt a treat for fans of the Marvel universe, seeing the iconic Phil Coulson in real life.
The production itself feels pretty intense. Large clocks are displayed on stage throughout to show the passing of the five days that the play covers. Seeing the hours tick by adds to the tension and sense of impending doom. Of course, we all know where it’s leading, but I still felt quite rung out by the interval.
And having said that, director Robert Icke actually plays with the idea of sliding doors and the potential of an alternate ending. Every now and then, huge panels slide across the stage, time is rewound, and scenes have different outcomes. An early one imagines a scenario with the party guest list where the star-crossed young lovers would never have met. A later one imagines a world where Romeo & Juliet both lived.
It’s an interesting approach and quite visually dramatic. But I wasn’t sure it really added anything except more time to an already long production. And I’m not sure everyone in the audience really understood what was happening.
But that aside, I think it’s an excellent production with a great cast who do an amazing job breathing new life into an old story.
Romeo & Juliet is booking at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 20 June 20206. For more reviews of theatre, art, comedy and music, check the Arts section of my blog.
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