Shakespeare’s R&J sounds suspiciously like a production based on an idea–a “thespiany” idea, at that. A gimmicky adaptation of a well-worn play. Yawn.

Every production of Shakespeare is marketed as a ‘fresh interpretation’, and such try-hard repackaging only seems to draw attention to the fact that you are going to see something from the olden days. Antiquated; tired; overdone; clichéd. You wonder why we couldn’t have just stopped at Olivier’s Hamlet or Polanski’s Macbeth.

Go as crazy with the text as you like – set it in modern times with an exotic location (bold!) or infuse it with current affairs and politics (edgy!), it’s still Shakespeare. The text is olde worlde; the quotes have become clichés; and there will probably be scenes where we can’t quite figure out what is going on.

In Shakespeare’s R&J, four boys attend a Catholic school where Romeo and Juliet is banned. Like all things forbidden, this only serves to inflame their interest. They steal away with a copy, lured by the promise of lust and violence, which R&J has in spades.

Playwright Joe Calarco draws a comparison between the stifling Catholic school environment and that of Romeo and Juliet’s Verona, both with walls and strict social codes. His adaptation consists of the edited Romeo and Juliet text, edited to suit four actors; and additional establishing scenes, which see the adolescents jibing at Shakespeare’s words, replete with pelvic thrusts and patronising portrayals of women. But this turned out to be just a taxi down the runway–the play was about to take off, with the help of some fine acting and direction from Craig Illot.

Calarco’s adaptation is squarely aimed at school students, which is fair enough – many Shakespeare productions wouldn’t be viable if the texts were not on school curriculums. The audience for this performance was comprised of students from four Sydney high schools who laughed in all the right places; and when two boys in character as Romeo and Juliet kissed, things got really interesting. There was a predictable groan of discomfort, but they sure were paying attention.

During interval, a group of students from Kogarah High School were abuzz in the foyer. They said they thought the production, so far, was unreal. Having read the play and watched two film versions as part of their studies at school they agreed you probably needed to have read Romeo and Juliet already, but they loved seeing it presented by characters they related to.

The four actors, NIDA grads Ben Gerrard, Julian Curtis, Garth Holcombe, and WAAPA grad Tom Stokes, were excellent. Shakespeare’s characters were presented as people their schoolboy characters might encounter – with shades of teachers, parents and schoolgirls. Curtis, with his playful portrayal of the flustered Nurse was hilarious and lovely, but it seems unfair to single anyone out. Each had shining moments and it was a true ensemble. The idea of Shakespeare as a team sport washed well with the audience and demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be a dry academic pursuit or a vehicle for stagey monologues.

The messy crescendo of tragedy upon tragedy in Romeo and Juliet, which can easily turn into melodrama in the wrong hands, was executed beautifully in the second half. The actors played the schoolboys as though they had become almost totally submerged in the text, possessed by the characters and driven by a curiosity to uncover ‘what happened next’. Their journey throughout the play, from tawdriness to tenderness, was touching and really did add another dimension to the words, revitalising it again for another generation. Romeo and Juliet 4 eva.

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