The National Theatre’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet, features a who’s who of British stage and screen talent, and it shows. The production is slick, stylised and, with a running time of roughly 90 minutes, is a pacy piece of theatre. It zips through the action of the play, with Emily Burns having removed many of the long-winded speeches and monologues of the original. In doing this, they have distilled the play down to its essence. Combining Burns’ adaptation, with Tim Sidell’s gorgeous cinematography and Simon Godwin’s direction, means this theatre-film hybrid is a huge success.

The strong cast is led by the ever-brilliant Jessie Buckley, whose performance of Juliet stands out as the soul of this adaptation; and Josh O’Connor, who is almost unrecognisable from his Golden Globe winning role as Prince Charles in Netflix’s The Crown. His Romeo moves from quiet, reserved and brooding, to complete joy as he meets Juliet and begins to fall in love.

Productions of Romeo and Juliet can rise or fall depending on the chemistry of the leads. Thankfully, there are no such problems here as Buckley and O’Connor have a natural, easy chemistry that makes it easy to root for them, despite knowing what’s around the corner for the pair.

Indeed, the entire cast for this production is strong, with each part played to perfection.

Tamsin Grieg who, in this production is given many of Capulet’s lines, is an icy cold Lady Capulet. She is controlling and imperious with her daughter, making for a successful update on the text as it gives the role a much more updated and modern feel.

Adrian Lester commandingly plays the Prince, although many of his lines have been cut down. Lucian Msamati and Deborah Findlay, as the Friar and the Nurse respectively, are both sympathetic figures, wonderfully played by their talented actors. 

The production opens with shots of the actors arriving at rehearsals, surrounded by rails of costumes and props. They sit and listen to the play’s opening monologue being delivered, before the action moves smoothly into constructed sets on the Lyttelton stage.  From there, the play cuts between scenes on specially designed sets to those shot on a bare black stage, skilfully managing to avoid being too jarring for the audience.

One of the most powerful soliloquies in the play is spoken by Juliet just before she drinks the potion offered to her by the Friar. It sees Juliet standing centre stage, surrounded by a circle of actors. Although usually performed alone on stage, this is an inspired interpretation as it seems like Juliet is almost ‘seeing’ those she loves as she speaks, making the decision to drink the potion much more emotional and effectual. It appears as if Juliet is considering the consequences whilst seeing those she is leaving behind. In the closing moments of her speech, she sees Romeo and from there seems much more resolved in drinking the potion. It is a highly effective way of showing Juliet’s thought-process without over-complicating things.

This is an excellent production of Shakespeare’s oft-adapted classic.

****’ Four and a half stars

Reviewed by: Amy Louise

The National Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet will be repeated by Sky Arts on 5 & 8 April, so be sure to catch it then, Besties!