"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

I don't think there's anyone who loves the theatre, or literature, who doesn't know the "Romeo and Juliet" story, or is it the story of Juliet and her Romeo, so here's a quick summary of the plot.

The Montagues, to which Romeo is a son of, and the Capulets are enemies and this causes issues at the family party. This ends when one of Romeo's friends, Mercutio, is killed during a sword fight with Tybalt and Romeo avenges his friend by killing Tybalt, and is exiled. Prior to this though Romeo and Juliet are married secretly but with Romeo's exile, Juliet is presented with an alternative solution to these issues that stand in her way of happiness.

It doesn't matter how many times you see a Shakespeare play, every production is going to be different, because every Director and cast are going to have a slightly different vision, which is why i don't make comparisons between different productions.

This production is very traditional and just over two hours long, not including the interval of fifteen minutes. I would have happily forgone the interval as I was so rapt by the production, but that's just me.

There are twelve actors playing twenty-five roles, and not once did I feel that characters played by the same actors merged, due to the costumes and the acting skills of the individual actors.

And like almost all of the Shakespeare productions I've ever seen, I've found that the actors, and their characters, did not outdo any of the others. The stories are so strong, and character driven, that you envelop yourself in the story-telling and, as long as no actor tries to out do another, which by the way they don't, they become part of the fabric of the story.

It's a wonderful cast who have been chosen well, many of them I have not seen perform Shakespeare, but after the initial interest of seeing an actor you've reviewed before taking on the great Bard, you forget all that and let the story wash over you, no matter how many times you've seen the play.

From a conversation I had with Director Max Bromley over the weekend, I looked at "Romeo and Juliet" in a slightly different light though this time around.

Charlotte Cordall (Lady Montague / Peter / Paris' Page / Follower of Tybalt) plays the matriarch of the Montague family.

Daisy Donoghue (Juliet) I've seen move up the ranks from the youth section and progress and blossom into a credible adult actor. Juliet is played as the more prominent half of the young lovers; the one who made all the decisions regarding the relationship. She is already a strong woman as shown when she stands up to her parents when they advised her that she is to marry Paris. Shakespeare was very good at writing strong characters for his women, despite women actors not able to take to the stage when he started writing his plays. Daisy is a strong actor and that comes through in this role, living and breathing the script with great understanding.

Alex Douglas (Tybalt / Watchmen) is excellent as the hot-headed Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. His stage combat skills are likewise excellent; completely realistic with power behind the strikes and lunges.

Guy Evans (Capulet) gives in effect two performances with Lord Capulet. He plays a loving and protective father who wants the best for his daughter, even discouraging Tybalt from starting trouble with Romeo at the Capulet party as he did not want blood shed in his home. The darkness then rises with Juliet's refusal to marry Paris at Capulet's arrangement and becomes quickly violent towards his daughter and Nurse. A powerful performance by Guy.

David Field (Romeo), I first saw, if I remember correctly, two years ago at the Lace Market Theatre. As Romeo we see him first off like a spoiled child who can't get his way, lolling around and huffing and puffing, not as I've seen Romeo played before, which is quite refreshing. What you almost forget though is that the two star crossed lovers are still only just teenagers and can be petulant, although Juliet comes across as the more mature. Shakespeare obviously had a knack for people watching in the original draft of the play. David soon brings out the protective side of the character, a side that will fight to the death to protect those that he loves.

One thing that I don't remember from other productions was just how upset Romeo got when a certain piece of news was delivered to him. No spoilers, but you just want to put your arm around him and give him a hug. A passionate piece of acting from David.

Laurie Owen (Benvolio / Balthasar) as Benvolio drags out the reason for Romeo's depression at the start of the play, which is what comes across as a childlike strop, with his obsession with Rosaline, one of the Capulet's nieces. It's because Benvolio and Mercutio pushing Romeo to attend a Capulet party, inn order to meet Rosaline that he sees and falls for Juliet. Laurie is another one of those actors that I've seen develop over the years, and also has a natural feel for Shakespeare. Laurie directed "Measure For Measure" last year at the Lace Market Theatre.

Charles Moss (Montague / Serving Man / Apothecary) doesn't have the biggest role as Montague but gets to play three small but interesting roles throughout.

Emma Rayner (Lady Capulet) plays one of Shakespeare's subservient women, but plays her with grace. She does not want to upset Capulet when, after being told by Capulet to break the news of the arranged marriage to Paris, she refuses to tell Capulet of Juliet's refusal and tells her that she needs to break the news herself, which causes the violence towards Juliet. After this scene she turns away from Juliet and the Nurse.

Laura Sherratt (Paris / Citizen) plays a lesser role but the contrast that she gives as Paris is a safe pair of hands but not what Juliet wants in a husband.

Malcolm Todd (Prince / Nurse) is marvellous as Nurse; he's not bad as the Prince either but it's as Nurse that he provides some nice comic moments, but also, when Juliet's father sets upon her, Nurse tries to offer some protection but also gets caught up in the violence, depicting the vulnerability of the role. The scene when Nurse discovers Juliet in the bed is quite an emotional one.

Jake Turner (Mercutio / 2nd Watchman / Friar John) shows off his sword-fencing skills in one of several sword fights as Mercutio. the death scene is done very well as when Romeo steps in, it's at such an angle from the audience that you do actually believe in the thrust of Tybalt's sword, and looks very realistic.

Richard Young (Friar Laurence / Citizen / Servant) plays the production's "go-between" with the two lovers, marrying them in secret and then providing Juliet with the possible way out of her marriage to Paris. The scene where Laurence discovers that his message to Romeo has not been delivered is done especially well by Richard.

Directed by Max Bromley, who also designed the set. There is of course a balcony plus a clever and simple see through curtain that divides part of the stage off to emulate the party scene as well as the vault scene. The black walls of the set reflect the darkness of the story.

Lighting design is by Esther Warren. With a play such as this you don't need anything fancy in the way of effects, and this simplicity is just what this production requires. The Lighting Crew consisted of Allan Green.

Sound design by Jonathan Blacknell. Apart from the natural soundscape of birds singing after Romeo and Juliet had consummated their marriage, I didn't spot that many effects. Now this could be because any effects were so inobtrusive that they naturally inserted, which works for me, or there weren't too many. I did notice a clash of the cock crowing with the start of a speech but apart from that, which believe me, probably no one else noticed, everything was spot on.

The costumes are one area with the Lace Market Theatre that always excel. They depicted which side of the family the characters were on and who they were without needing any vocal prompts. The costumes also made sure that the actors with several roles were clearly defined from the other characters. A brilliant example of this is with Malcolm's Prince and Nurse.

I mentioned the stage combat, with a very realistic fight at the start and then the sword fencing; this was thanks to Jon Buckeridge from the Action Combat Company.

If you've seen "Romeo and Juliet" before, come and see this production as well because it gives a different view of these two with Juliet being the more dominant character. As I love Shakespeare, I am just a bit biased but whether this would be your first, or latest Shakespeare production, come down and see it because it is pure entertainment.

It would be a tragedy to miss it!

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Review: Romeo and Juliet. Lace Market Theatre. Nottingham.

The Lace Market Theatre is always a pleasure to visit, as they embark on ambitious programmes tackling everything from Mike Leigh to Ibsen to Shakespeare, and it is Shakespeare that forms their February offering.

Romeo and Juliet, says the prologue, is "the two hours traffic" of the stage. This was not true in the 1590s and it's not true here, with the first act alone coming in at a hefty 90 minutes. However, director Max Bromley makes sure that each of those 90 minutes (plus the 50 minutes of Act 2) is considered, well-presented and full.

From the opening brawl on a hot Verona evening, to a sumptuous masked ball, to the brutal deaths of Mercutio then Tybalt, this version of the play ensures that it retains fidelity to Shakespeare's text, alongside relevance and action for the 21st century audience.

Played in an angled black box, the set works extremely well. There are levels, with a black tower forming a watch post, a platform for the Prince and of course Juliet's balcony, and the set is divided on the diagonal by a set of scaffold tubes which allow a gauze curtain to be pulled across at various intervals. Presenting both a barrier and an alternative location, dependent upon lighting, the curtain elevates the set and helps to provide an interesting space for the cast to work, as well as contributing to the creation of different atmospheres for different scenes.

The lighting is effective, enhancing both mood and clever illumination, and the music choices successful, although some of the sound effects were superfluous -the textual interpretation is strong enough that the piece doesn't need all of these additions.

The cast is strong – our first encounter with David Field's Romeo sees him leaning against the back wall, dramatically sobbing over his unrequited love for the fair Rosalind; a serious and vigorous performance by Field, whose interpretation has Romeo brooding and brimming with intensity. There are notable performances by Jake Turner, particularly in the role of Mercutio (The Queen Mab speech, a highlight); Guy Evans as Capulet, striding around the stage and managing to find a balance between fierce rage and quiet venom, ensuring the scene where he all disavows Juliet, lands in a chilling and horrifying way. Emma Rayner's Lady Capulet hits the right beats, Alex Douglas is a sinister Tybalt and Laurie Owen a faithful and anguished Benvolio. But it is Juliet who leads this cast, with an outstanding performance by Daisy Donoghue. I have long believed that this is Juliet's play, and Romeo just happens to be in it – and here, Donoghue demonstrates with textual dexterity, innocence and pain, all that it means to be Juliet. The ending of this play is frustrating  because it is all so easily preventable, but Donoghue's performance, particularly when her Nurse (Malcolm Todd) advises her to forget Romeo and marry Paris (Laurie Sherratt), is utterly believable as she has no one left to fight her corner. In this interpretation and in that moment, it is clear that Juliet has nowhere else to turn, and that makes her choice to "undertake a thing like death" borne from frustration, so crystal clear.

Todd's performance as the Nurse also deserves a mention. Casting a man to play the Nurse has risk attached to it, as there is potential for it to spill into becoming a pantomime dame, and this character is one that we need to believe in, so that the moment where she lets Juliet down is pivotal. Fortunately, Todd plays this role with sincerity and ease, ensuring that the relationship is believable.

In terms of the text, the cast largely nail it, and this first night performance displayed no signs of nerves or dropping of the script. There are sections where I felt the text could have been edited – Shakespeare included stage and set directions in his dialogue, to allow his casts to explain what was happening to the Early Modern Audience – it is not always necessary to include lines such as "here lies the County Paris slain" and "look how our daughter bleeds" when we've not only seen the deaths, but also already had them narrated by the watchmen, but cutting the part of Balthasar to have Benvolio present at the tomb was a nice touch. There are also moments where I felt the cast hadn't quite got to grips with the performance of the iambic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, and is full of rhyming couplets – it is easy to fall into the habit of performing these and giving in to the rhythm, so that it has almost a nursery rhyme effect, and this came through at times during the performance. However, these are minor points in an otherwise extremely faithful, well executed, well-directed passionate performance of this "tale of woe." It is very easy to forget that this is an amateur theatre, and they continue to bring their "A-Game" to the Nottingham city arts scene. The Lace Market Theatre should be really proud of a job very well done

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