Review: ROMEO AND JULIET, Polka Theatre

Steve Gregson

The always-enterprising Polka Theatre have built a matchless reputation over many years, and their work has shifted up a gear since the very successful rebuild of their home in Wimbledon. With a comfortable end stage main auditorium and an adaptable studio, as well as other spaces, their work is diverse and enterprising. The smaller Adventure Theatre space is usually reserved for the very youngest children but this is reversed at present, with a show for younger children in the main auditorium and Romeo and Juliet for an older age group in the Adventure Theatre. This is a novel idea and it will be interesting to see how it works. There are three rows of benches in the Adventure Theatre and then three rows of cushions, fine for the parents and young children at this showing but will a world-weary Y6 group be affronted by having to sit on cushions we wonder?

The show is devised and performed by the hip hop and beat-boxing collective ‘Beats & Elements’, known for their inventive take on well-known narratives. This is not their first show based on a Shakespeare play as they have previously tackled Hamlet. On this occasion, however, they have devised a show aimed at 9 to 12+ years, an age group not always catered for and sometimes very hard to attract into a theatre. Once there, it seems likely they will both enjoy and react to this version of Romeo and Juliet, especially where they may already know the story, as will often be the case with Y5 and Y6 groups.

Unfortunately, at the press showing, there were far more adults than young people, and the children who were there, were mostly at the younger end of the target group. Someone had even bought a child who looked to be around 3 years old. This meant that, attentive as the audience was, the response was more muted than is likely to be the case at the schools performances planned at Polka and on tour. The touches of humour, too, were enjoyed by the adults at the back but would also have landed with older children if they had been present.

Dividing the audience into Capulets and Montagues will work better if they are not all shepherded to one side by front of house staff; at this performance we were mainly Capulets (apart from the latecomers). The audience dutifully learnt their responses according to their alliance however, so it was disappointing they were not then asked to respond with these to any extent till the finale.

Co-creator Conrad Murray was once among that young audience himself, and proves to be a genial narrator and provides all the guitar-based musical accompaniment, with all four beatboxing cast members layering vocal effects to accompany the action. This provided a remarkable soundscape for the show although it was unfortunate that the large head mics needed by the cast tended to obscure their mouths. Co-creator Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, in addition to playing a range of parts, has been responsible with Murray for the devising of the piece, along with performers Khai Shaw (Romeo) and Kate Donnachie (Juliet).

Shaw and Donnachie create believable characters and navigate the love story in an entirely age-appropriate way but remaining true to the source. Both have particular moments that stand out, with Shaw’s singing and Donnachie’s high energy performance memorable. Murray creates some varying cameos including a Tybalt who seems to have found Mr Magoo’s glasses, while Lynch-Stevens is particularly good at assuming a new role with the aid of a costume or prop. Her performance as Freddy (the Friar role in this version) in his orange stole is highly effective.

The violence and deaths are well handled, with slow motion stylised combats and reports rather than portrayals of the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. The set by Erin C. Guan is clever and transportable, necessary for a production that will tour to schools. The article about the design process on the Polka website is worth reading, and it’s good to see the schools pack available there too. The inventive take on the ending, involving the Northern line, is also likely to hit home with an older local audience. The biggest disappointment remained the experience of watching the show with the wrong audience; we are sure this innovative and enterprising show will be received with enthusiasm and delight when groups of Y5 and Y6 (or even older) pupils see it.

**** Four Stars

Reviewed by Chris Abbott

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