Darren Raymond’s ambitious reinvention of the beloved Shakespearean tragedy subverts age-old tropes, conventions and expectations, ultimately birthing a distinct tragicomedy, that can only come from Intermission Youth Theatre.
It is either a fools remit or a wise man’s burden to tackle any fixture of the Shakespearean universe. Shakespeare’s timeless storytelling is no easy feat to reproduce but IYT’s artistic director Darren Raymond, whose past work includes ‘Shakespeare Walks’ and ‘Othello: Remixed’, decides to reimagine love, betrayal, revenge and hate (in a Covid-19 landscape), with a backdrop of racial tension and gang warfare in contemporary London. The eclectic musical selections, dance sequences and the hybrid language, where Shakespearean sonnets are delicately infused with cherished street-slang, leave the audience with an engrossing nostalgia and familiarity.
The intimate and haphazard stage mirrors the turbulence of the action to come, all set against a grey background with the Montague and Capulet symbols – an audacious wolf and a sly cat. As the play begins, we see the star-crossed lovers’ roles are reversed, and Juliet (Wisdom) assumes the role of the pursuer and initiator. Radical in its reversed conception, Raymond gives Juliet her long-awaited agency, whilst Romeo (Mbuini) is given space to express his vulnerability and prudence in matters of the heart, which men are so often forbidden to do. This interchange reveals a commentary about the gender roles that men and women conform to regarding their perceptions of each other in romantic dalliances. Raymond promptly discards this and asserts that individuals are allowed to peruse the emotional spectrum and live and love authentically.
The modern adaptation is novel and refreshing even though, at times, there is a fragmented flow, contributing to some disillusioned moments: Samuel’s Capo, a new character – the elder sister of Romeo, is a magnetic powerhouse throughout the play; however, her final act of fratricide seems too rash and sudden; the steady build-up of sibling love and the romantic diversion from the lovers’, collapses unceremoniously and far too unconvincingly, the result of which fails to produce the desired cathartic effect. All said, though, this does not distract from the promising performances of IYT’s burgeoning thespians.
We await Raymond’s next reinvention to create another provocative piece that forces us to re-examine both social and dramatic conventions. His spearheading of IYT is testament to how both the classic pillars of theatre and today’s creative youth can merge and reproduce the stuff that Shakespeare himself delivered – an immersive questioning of the human psyche and emotion.
Name of Production | Juliet and Romeo
Year of Production | 2021
Venue Cast | Ophelia J. Wisdom, Chadrack Mbuini, Megan Samuel, Elijah Maximus, Christopher Mbaki
Director | Darren Raymond
Writer| Darren Raymond
Music/Composer | Delyth Evans
Designer/Lighting Designer | Julian McCready
Producers/Production Company | Intermission Youth Theatre
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