Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Romeo and Juliet Stratford Festival 2024 A Review

Romeo and Juliet 
2024
Director Sam White
Set and Costume Designer Sue LePage
Lighting Designer Louise Guinand
Composer and Sound Designer Debashis Sinha
Fight Director and Intimacy Director Anita Nittoly
Choreographer Adrienne Gould
Executive Producer David Auster
Casting Directors Beth Russell and Ari Weinberg
Creative Planning Director Jason Miller


Romeo and Juliet Stratford Festival 2024 A Review Pre Show

This was the second of four planned shows this season my son and I have attended or plan to attend with shows ranging from early April to mid-October. Over the last few years my son, who is now 16, and I have attended a number of plays in Stratford at the festival. We eagerly await the announcements of the season’s shows and often buy our tickets early in the winter. The other shows we have seen or plan to see this season are Something Rotten, Cymbeline, and Twelfth Night. 

We watched a few different productions in preparation for this performance. We are both big fans of the 1996 production. I also tend to read the plays before coming to see them. I have also read Romeo & Juliet twice in the last four years as my children have done it in school and will be reading it again this fall with my youngest being in grade 9.

We both really enjoyed this production. It was wonderful to see it put on with more classical costumes and staging. We greatly appreciated the cast and staging of the production.  

My top ranking for the performances would be:

Vanessa Sears as Juliet
Andrew Iles as Mercutio
Scott Wentworth as Friar Lawrence
Jessica B. Hill as Lady Capulet
Andrew Iles as Mercutio, Apothecary 

My son’s top picks were:

Jonathan Mason as Romeo
Vanessa Sears as Juliet
Andrew Iles as Mercutio
Derek Kwan as Tybalt 
Scott Wentworth as Friar Lawrence

The full cast in alphabetical order is:

Capulet - Graham Abbey
Citizen 2, Partygoer - David Collins
Gregory, Watch - Howard Dai
Prince Escalus, Partygoer - Nick Dolan
Peter, Watch - Thomas Duplessie
Paris - Austin Eckert
Benvolio - Steven Hao
Percussionist - Graham Hargrove
Lady Capulet - Jessica B. Hill
Citizen 4, Partygoer - Jenna-Lee Hyde
Mercutio, Apothecary - Andrew Iles
Percussionist - Jasmine Jones-Ball
Balthasar, Friar John - John Kirkpatrick
Tybalt Follower, Partygoer, Chief Watch - Derek Kwan
Sampson - Tarique Lewis
Romeo - Jonathan Mason
Citizen 3, Partygoer, Paris’s Page - Marissa Orjalo
Nurse - Glynis Ranney
Lady Montague, Partygoer, Watch - Antonette Rudder
Juliet - Vanessa Sears
Montague, Ol’ Cousin, Capulet - Michael Spencer-Davis
Tybalt, Watch - Emilio Vieira
Friar Laurence - Scott Wentworth
Citizen 1, Watch - Rylan Wilkie
Prince’s Guard, Partygoer - Angus Yam

Understudies
Lady Montague, Citizen1, Citizen 3, Citizen 4, Watch, Partygoer - Hilary Adams
Montague, Ol’ Cousin, Capulet - David Collins
Tybalt, Paris - Howard Dai
Mercutio, Apothecary - Thomas Duplessie
Romeo - Austin Eckert
Peter, Citizen 2, Chief, Watch, Prince’s Guard, Partygoer, Tybalt, Follower - Ziye Hu
Nurse - Jenna-Lee Hyde
Capulet - John Kirkpatrick
Sampson, Balthasar, Friar John - Derek Kwan
Prince Escalus, Partygoer - Tarique Lewis
Juliet - Marissa Orjalo
Lady Capulet - Antonette Rudder
Friar Laurence - Rylan Wilkie
Benvolio, Gregory, Watch - Angus Yam

This is an excellent staging and production of this play. As the house program indicates it is not the most often performed nor one of the earliest. There were 17 other plays by Shakespeare performed before they took on the star crossed lovers, and as for the most often staged as of this season A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night are tied for that honour.

This is an easier play to follow on one many have studies in high school or university. It is a story many are familiar with. But I cannot help but think of the many memes that state:

“Romeo and Juliet is not a love story. It’s a three day relationship between a 13 year old and a 17 year old that caused 6 deaths. Sincerely, everyone who actually read it.” 

I am not that cynical most days. But I also do not see it as a romantic comedy with a tragic ending. This production does an excellent job of finding a balance in the presentation. The casting was excellent and the staging well planned. My son was amazed when Romeo Jumps and ascends the balcony. And the fight scenes are well crafted. And I absolutely loved the work of the Percussionists Jasmine Jones-Ball and Graham Hargrove the two of them on stage setting the tone and playing during certain scenes was magnificent!

This is another great production from the cast, crew and artistic team at the Stratford festival. If you have the chance to see it, in theatre or on film if this is one they record we can easily recommend it.






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