Romeo & Juliet- Bell Shakespeare

This would have to be one of the liveliest, most powerful productions of Romeo and Juliet! Congratulations to the director, Peter Evans and the whole cast who brought the inner significance of this play so vividly, so entertainingly alive. In his pre-performance interview Peter Evans had spoken about the vitality of Juliet as a character. And Kelly Paterniti (as Juliet) proved his point so well. Not only did she express the essential joyousness of her character (in a crazy world) but she challenged all aspects of the status quo: the prejudices between the Montagues and the Capulets; the blathering arrogance of her impossible father; the demeaning sexualization of love of so many of the other characters- Mercutio, Tybalt and even her own Nurse. Juliet and Romeo were depicted as essential “good” in a very “bad” world. Their goodness survived despite their physcial death. They were shown to embody natural vitality, natural love, natural feelings for all those around them. Shakespeare ask in his Sonnet 65:

How with this Rage shall Beauty Hold a Plea

Whose action is no stronger than a flower

Purple Spider Osteospermum

And Shakespeare shows precisely how, in this play, “Beauty” does, can, will, shall “Hold a Plea” against all the ravages of time. Their love, innocent, cherishing, joyous, feelingful, searingly painful- does, will and shall last till the end of time, despite the destructive power of the world in which it finds itself: Hallelujah!

So The Blog Question for this week (for those who have seen the Bell Shakespeare production) is:

Write a short review of the play telling what- for you- was the most momentous, compelling, exciting, illuminating aspect of this particular production.

If you need a complete, illustrated copy of the program to remind you who was in the play etc. etc. then you can get the whole program for FREE right HERE. 

If you did not see this production then maybe you would like to describe in your own words, from your own reading, or your own viewing of a different version, what the love between Romeo and Juliet represents in a world crazily dedicated to violence.