Romeo and Juliet

 

Tom Casey 
Romeo

Ophelia Charlesworth
Juliet

 

ROMEO AND JULIET

THEATRE ROYAL, BURY ST EDMUNDS

15^th Feb 2024 matinee

Benjamin Prudence.
Paris; Mercutio; Balthasar

Just seen the above performance in the beautiful Theatre Royal, and was amazed at how unexpectedly brilliant the drama was. There was a large school party in the stalls and the performance felt intended to appeal to just such a youthful audience. Checking up online I discover, to my delight, that this pacey and inventive version was created primarily to appeal to students and teachers of English and Drama. A brilliant idea in itself because to hook teenagers into Shakespeare on stage, is potentially life-changing for the students, and for teachers to be able to call upon such energy and youthfully inventive drama on stage to help present Shakespeare in an exciting way to youngsters, is incredibly helpful and inspiring. So often, Shakespeare at school for students is a boring, little understood ‘duty’ and course requirement, wearily worked through, appropriate quotations memorised, and the whole, discarded as quickly as possible. The pupil audience there today will not forget this Romeo and Juliet easily; nor will the many older theatregoers in the auditorium. Whatever the target audience for this production, the appreciation and enjoyment extended across a wide age range.

Mae Munuo
Benvolio; Friar; Associate Director

This energetic production with its loud modern music, inventive use of video, and six young actors recently graduated from various Schools of Drama, certainly hits the spot; the entire audience seemed to be thrilled with what they had just experienced. No actor seemed to speak his part; everyone shouted, called, expostulated, as they dashed hither and thither, energy bursting out of each leap and dash; each remark and question all caught mid-move. It felt young and real and, en passant. caught the essence of being young, and exciting, and on                                                      the threshold of life.

Online I discover afterwards that there are Directors of Sound Design; Video Design; Lighting; Fight; plus an Associate Director who is also in the cast. So, a lot of expertise and experience went quietly into this production when no one save the cast was looking! All credit to the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich for such innovative and far-reaching efforts, supported again, I believe, by Suffolk Council which has retracted its original proposal to stop funding theatre among other cultural activities. Perennially short of money, no doubt, but trying to do the right thing. Anyone responsible for supporting the New Wolsey would have been gratified to have seen this afternoon’s performance and the audience reaction.

Ciaran Forde
Capulet; Prince/; pothecary

Bethany O'Halloran
Lady Montague; Nurse; Tybalt; Friar

                                                       Little History of the Theatre Royal.

Theatre Royal was designed and built-in 1819 by William Wilkins. With many of its original features still intact, it is the last remaining Regency playhouse in the country and one of the most beautiful, intimate and historic theatres in the world. Theatre Royal’s designer, William Wilkins (1778-1839) was an architect of national repute responsible for the National Gallery in London and Downing College, Cambridge. He opened Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds on 11 October 1819. As the proprietor of the Norwich circuit, he employed a small company of players to undertake an annual tour of six theatres; Yarmouth, Ipswich, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Colchester and Kings Lynn. Each was open for just one or two short seasons during the year. Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds opened for the Great Fair in early October to mid-November and was only available for special events at other times of the year. At that time, it would certainly have enjoyed large audiences, particularly as the local community would not have been able to travel far for entertainment until the arrival of the railway in the 1840s.

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

Interior, Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds