Romeo and Juliet – Globe Theatre, London

The Globe’s Romeo and Juliet, transplanted to the Wild West, gains more visually than textually from the shift.

At the Globe on a Hot Summer’s Day

Gosh, it’s been such a long time since I visited Shakespeare’s Globe.  Years, in fact.  Time does get away on you a bit, doesn’t it?  And the Salterton Arts Review gets a lot more kind invites to review productions, these days reducing the number of others shows I see. All worth it: I’ve seen some of the best and most unexpected theatre that way.

And I must also make a confession, which will make me sound like a Philistine (although I’ve mentioned the same previously, I think).  There are only so many times I fancy seeing the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays.  You know the ones I mean: Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet.  These days, it take an interesting spin on these works to get me there.  Or a friend who wants to see them.  It was both, in this case.  I did suggest a compromise, though.  I would happily see Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theatre but, as full-length Shakespeare is, well, lengthy, could we do a matinee?

That, dear readers, is the story of how I ended up at an outdoor(ish) theatre on one of the hottest afternoons of the year.   Luckily my Groundling days are far behind me (the Salterton Arts Review likes comfort and abhors long periods of standing), so we not only had seats, but coveted seats where we could rest our backs.  My tip for Shakespeare’s Globe is to sit in the back row of any section: the views are fine and your back will thank you.

A lot of preamble today, I’m like one of those recipes where it takes ages to get to the point.  I guess I have saved up a lot of thoughts about the Globe and Shakespeare these past few years.

Get to the Point, Lady

I shall, thank you.  We’ve spoken about the friend’s invitation.  What about the interesting premise?  In this case, it was the setting.  Romeo and Juliet in the Wild West.  I was interested to see what that might add to the story.  Although in the end I didn’t think it added too much.  I’ve seen updated settings work to better effect in, for instance, Juliet & Romeo by Intermission Youth Theatre.  County lines in London?  Yes, I can see that.  Wild West but everything else unchanged? I was wondering where Friar Laurence would even find a nunnery to send Juliet to. But the Wild West did at least provide visual interest.  Plus kept me on my toes as the firearms startled me every time.

Other than the setting and costumes, this was a fairly straightforward interpretation of a classic.  Although one aspect director Sean Holmes brings to the forefront is the couple’s youth and impetuousness.  You can interpret Romeo and Juliet various ways.  But for me, and maybe this is grumpy middle age showing, it’s at least partly a story of how all-consuming yet silly young love can be.  Brains not yet developed and all that.  I feel the same way about Wuthering Heights: just calm down a bit, you’ll get over it eventually.  The point here being that I liked the way Holmes drew this out.  It also kept a humorous note where other productions can get very serious and earnest.

Final Thoughts

As Romeo and Juliet, Rawaed Asde and Lola Shalam are good, respectively. While Shalam’s in particular comes across as a believable teenager, their connection is also genuinely moving at times. Then Shakespeare wouldn’t be Shakespeare without the comic roles, and this time it was a trifecta of the Nurse (Jamie-Rose Monk), Mercutio (Michael Elcock), and old Capulet himself (Colm Gormley). I was also impressed by Josh Gordon, who took on the dual role of the Price/Peter (a Capulet servant) due to the indisposition of Dharmesh Patel. He had his book in hand but I didn’t see him refer to it once on stage. Understudies/covers/swings are an impressive bunch. And finally, it was nice to see Léa des Garets, last seen on the blog in a work of their own writing, GEORGE. Lady Capulet isn’t the most thrilling of roles but is nicely acted here.

And what else to say? There isn’t much to the on-stage set (Paul Wills), but it does the job and looks fresh compared to the usual Globe set up. Is there a touch of Bridge Theatre influence in the moveable thrust stages? It reminded me of Guys & Dolls in any case to have the Groundlings moving around Juliet’s balcony and bed. The costumes, also by Wills, are also nicely done. The music is refreshing (composer Grant Olding), with again a touch of something different to the norm in this transplanted American setting. The audience, sweaty as they were, seemed to enjoy themselves, and got into the fun of innuendos and romance as well as the tragedy of the inevitable outcome. What more can you ask of Shakespeare, after all?

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Romeo and Juliet on until 2 August 2025