The Stage

Romeo and Juliet

Published Tuesday 3 August 2010 at 18:09 by Jon Holliday

Hopefully the sun will shine all summer on this open-air, promenading performance of the popular love story of star-crossed teenagers. Against an ever-changing backdrop of the famed Roath Park rose garden, with its streams and pathways through wooded areas, the audience strolled to the set-scenes of this play, accompanied by the strumming of a guitar.

The eccentrically-dressed youthful cast of disabled, sensory-impaired and non-disabled actors then performed with commendable zest in the punch-ups between the opposing families, particularly when the transgender Mercutio and Tybalt of Nikki Warwick and Beth House were involved.

Anja Conti’s Juliet displayed a touchingly innocent passion, well matched by Samuel Bees’s boyishly naïve Romeo, especially during the balcony scene, which was played up a tree, partly sung and with some delightful moments of comedy. Asides and odd pairings added spice to Elise Davison’s well paced staging. There were stand out performances by Neil Hancock doubling Capulet and Friar Lawrence, and Chloe Clarke as a rumbustious Nurse. Support is given by Thomas House as Benvolio, Rhys Llewellyn as Montague and Apothecary, with the remaining roles swept up by Caroline Beasley and Sian Hawthorn. The music is composed and directed by Thomas House. The two-month tour visits 15 venues of parks, castles, historic sites and gardens throughout Wales, finishing at Valle Crucis Abbey, Llangollen on August 21.