Jess, David and Hannah report back on Romeo and Juliet
29 July 2010
On Monday we published Jess, David and Hanna's pre-show answers to some questions about Romeo and Juliet. We asked them to answer similar questions after seeing the show so as promised in the last episode; here are Jess and David's responses.
Sum up ATC’s production of Romeo and Juliet in 140 characters:
Jess: Modern, intriguing, entertaining and relevant, the ATC production of Romeo & Juliet was awesome!
David: Tonal tenacity transforms tragedy to titillating triumph. I loved the way voice (and gestures) were used to alter the meaning of phrases.
Hannah: Modern, slightly cheeky, slightly dirty adaptation of classic love story turned tragedy - with a bit of pop culture thrown in the mix
Having seen a professional production of Shakespeare live on stage how does it differ to experiencing the story via other mediums like film?
Jess: You are so much more involved in every aspect of the story and the characters. Watching the Romeo & Juliet film can often isolate and alienate the audience, making them feel much more of an "outsider" rather than there and part of the action.
David: I've seen quite a few Shakespeare reproductions (MacBeth on film and TV, The Taming of the Shrew) and what surprised me most about the stage version was the ability to be simultaneously loyal to the text and themes of the play but also to be creative in interpretation. The stage experience is an engaging one and, the usual interval, uninterrupted. With TV productions, advertisements interrupt continuity and film versions tend to make compromises to fit their medium. The stage version is a full experience, there is more tension between the actors seeing it live, not as the 24th (perhaps robotic) take on a film set.
Hannah: I have always thought that Shakespeare is an interesting one to see performed live - I normally find it hard to follow because unless I have the book in front of me, the words are often quite hard to understand. However... being a Shakespeare nut who loves to decipher the meanings in the words, and also having performed in a R&J adaptation before - I could easily follow this production. I thought it was particularly well done how the words had almost been manipulated to give a slightly different context and meaning to some of the fine detail, e.g characterisation. Brilliant!
Read the full blog entry here
