One might wonder why Romeo and Juliet was chosen to inaugurate the Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival. It is not the Bard's first, chronologically or alphabetically. But it is a unique and riveting production and a stunning calling card. With a youthful cast and fluid choreography, this Romeo holds your attention despite its length: It is uncut, running almost 3 1/2 hours with only one intermission. The costuming is timeless, not of the play's period, nor is it modern-dress. The music, too, achieves that universal quality with harmonies that sometimes sound Irish and sometimes Middle-Eastern.
The opening scene shows the Duke collecting the guns and knives of everyone on the streets of Verona, in an effort to bring peace to warring factions. From that point on, the characters use long sticks as dandies would use canes, to twirl, to stamp on the ground to emphasize conversational points and, eventually, to duel. With elements of Stomp and of Riverdance, the tap tap tapping of these sticks gives the production a special rhythm and vitality. When Tybalt is beaten to death by sticks -- stylized, to be sure, with no physical contact -- it is more wrenching than seeing him fall from a stab wound.
Morven Christie is an adolescent, impetuous Juliet and Rupert Evans is an engaging and athletic Romeo. The supporting roles are uniformly well played, and the ensemble moves with graceful precision under the direction of Nancy Meckler. The intermission break comes sooner than usual: after the lovers' secret wedding, rather than after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. I like the way this works. We pause for a break at a moment of hopefulness, and, after the interval, we descend inexorably into the tragedy.
