Oxford School Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

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Its universal themes, vibrant characters, and poetic language continue to engage audiences, captivating both the young and the young-at-heart,” director Alex Nicholls explains. Outlines common themes explored when studying Romeo and Juliet's characters, including Romeo and Juliet's unrequited love, Romeo and Juliet as youthful protagonists, Romeo and Juliet's divided loyalties and the powerful force of fate and fortune

Act 2, scene 5 Juliet waits impatiently for the Nurse to return. Her impatience grows when the Nurse, having returned, is slow to deliver Romeo’s message. Finally Juliet learns that if she wants to marry Romeo, she need only go to Friar Lawrence’s cell that afternoon.The Shakespeare Apocrypha: Being a Collection of Fourteen Plays which have been Ascribed to Shakespeare Edward Smith as Tybalt gave the role an effectively preppy smugness, but the fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt felt oddly rushed and chose to have Mercutio die off stage, which felt like a missed opportunity to fully wring out the scene’s pathos. The larger cast had some standout performances as well. David Guthrie, who recently shone in Torch Theatre’s production of Queers, stole the show with four smaller parts, infusing each with a wholly different energy. And Lord Capulet infused his character with enough power and venom to make you instantly understand why this long-running feud just hasn’t been able to end. Probably the least accomplished part of the production was the music which didn’t seem to know which era it wanted to belong to. There was more 1930-40s popular music than any other genre but the opening fight was set to opera, Benvolio (Grace Olusola) ended the first half with a version of what I believe was Sylvia Robinson’s ‘Sunday’ and although the little bit of plainchant was presumably to let us know that we were now in Friar Lawrence (Craig Finlay)’s cell, it jarred. It didn’t help that the fade slider appeared not to be working so beginnings and ends were very abrupt.

Wild Goose Theatre is an Oxford based company producing good quality Shakespeare which always remains faithful to the bard’s beautiful language. Throughout, the music is beautifully chosen and does much to enrich the emotion of the story. Brief interludes of singing from Layla Katib and Craig Finley, who also played The Nurse/Queen Escala and Friar Lawrence respectively, might have felt indulgent in another production, but here was another thoughtful addition of texture.

7 Key Themes In Romeo and Juliet:

I would guess that most of the young audience were there because they’ve been studying the play and the 25 or so 11-year-olds on a primary school trip were clearly loving watching familiar scenes unfold in front of them. The actors were mostly loving bringing it to life for them too, especially Mercutio (Billy Morton) whose laddish innuendo was pitched just right to set them giggling. Edited by Hannah August, Senior Lecturer, Massey University, Francis X. Conor, Associate Professor of English, Wichita State University, and Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Oxford Act 2, scene 3 Determined to marry Juliet, Romeo hurries to Friar Lawrence. The Friar agrees to marry them, expressing the hope that the marriage may end the feud between their families.

This sumptuous, elegant and dynamic production will include song and dance and always remain faithful to the beautiful language and tragic story of love, separation and divided loyalties. Hannah August challenges Romeo and Juliet's catergorisation as a heteronormative, archetypical "love story" by studying gender identities within the play and the queer history of its performance, from the sixteenth century to today Nathan Golo’s Mercutio was mesmerizing to see, a brash, saucy live-wire performance that stole every scene he was in, while Billy Morton’s Benvolio balanced this out with a sincere and grounding performance. The scenes with the three men highlighted both exactly how funny Shakespeare’s dialogue can be and also the laddish camaraderie between the three. Act 2, scene 6 Juliet meets Romeo at Friar Lawrence’s cell. After expressing their mutual love, they exit with the Friar to be married.Act 1, scene 3 Lady Capulet informs Juliet of Paris’s marriage proposal and praises him extravagantly. Juliet says that she has not even dreamed of marrying, but that she will consider Paris as a possible husband if her parents wish her to. Uses the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work