Romeo And Juliete

Preview: Romeo and Juliet, The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff

I PREDICT a riot at a venue in Cardiff every night this week.

Before any members of the local constabulary ring me to check out my predictions of full-scale public disorder, I hasten to add it is all in the name of theatre.

Bare Knuckle Theatre formed last year and are rapidly gaining a reputation for their fresh and modern interpretations of Shakespeare classics such as a Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night.

Now they tackle their most ambitious production to date – Romeo and Juliet.

Proving their thirst for innovation and giving Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy a vibrant twist, the production will feature lavish scenes that are a world away from the ruffled conformity of traditional Shakespeare plays – including a riot between warring families the Montagues and the Capulets.

The ancient feud between the two factions disrupts peace in the city of Verona with tragic consequences for star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet of course.

However, to bring the enmity between the families to life, Bare Knuckle Theatre are staging their most ambitious scene yet.

Theatregoers will hardly have time to settle into their seats, before a full-blown riot between the Capulets, Montagues and law enforcement of a troubled, violence-torn Verona is played out on stage.

With more than 1,700 moves to master between 20 fighters over two minutes of choreographed, storytelling violence, it’s a testimony to the ambitious new direction Bare Knuckle are aiming to take their Shakespearean productions.

“Every move is demonstrated, counted, blocked, re-blocked and run in slow motion before moving on to the next,” explains director Simon Riordan.

“The impressive chaos is designed to grab an audience by the scruff of the neck and demonstrate, within the opening minutes, that this interpretation of Romeo and Juliet is something a little different to the fencing foils and heavy sighing so synonymous with Shakespeare’s most tragic love story.

“The intention is to have something that will appeal to the boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and wives in the audience who might have been dragged along by their other halves to see a play they think they know inside out before they’ve sat down.

“The attention-grabbing, entertaining riot is a ploy to shake away those preconceptions and wake the audience up in time to enjoy a compelling tragedy in a way they won’t have experienced before.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

With these first lines, Shakespeare's timeless play of young love and untimely death begins; as in life, it is sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, always poignantly beautiful. While our emotions are moved by the imagery and rhythms of Shakespeare's verse, our minds are delighted by the sharpness of his insights into life, death, and the human condition. I still think that Juliet could have been a better character but I think the way she acted went along with the time period in which the play was written. Still, it just seemed weird reading about how much she loved Romeo the second after they met. And Romeo was no different. He was supposed to be in love with Rosaline and said he would never stop loving her and the moment he saw Juliet he suddenly loves her. Even though the play focuses on Romeo and Juliet, I found that I really liked reading about the minor characters. Especially the nurse. They each had their role in the play and their equal on the opposite family. And now I have to talk about the nurse. Some of the things she said were hilarious. Especially the double entendres. It just shows that some things just don't change, even with time. I still don't get why it's such a famous story but I know I enjoyed reading it. Yes, the love between Romeo and Juliet isn't all that believable but I found that I didn't care. By the time we finished it I could easily understand the language that they talked in. The only think that I complain about is that my teacher made us annotate it into modern English which some fun away from it. But she did show us the 1968 movie version which kind of made up for it. Plus, it was just funny watching it.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet for kids

Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Library Classic)