Romeo And Juliet: Riveting Performance By Shake And Stir Theatre Co.

“Romeo and Juliet” is a riveting performance by ‘Shake and Stir Theatre Co.’ about two star-crossed lovers that are pulled apart by an ancient feud between their families. It effectively employs dramatic languages to create a new depth and understanding of the traditional Shakespearean play. These include tension of relationships, focus and mood, as well as production elements such as set design, sound and directing. “Romeo and Juliet” successfully manipulates all of these elements to create an excellent show that explores the emotional whirlwind of love and hate.
Tension of relationships is significant when presenting a good performance, as it clearly displays the connections between the characters, and has been thoughtfully demonstrated in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Tension has been used to represent different elements of the play such
as the dilemma of Romeo’s love interests being unreachable, and how Juliet is helpless to her father’s demands. The actors used levels, tone of voice and staging positions throughout the show to symbolise who had the power and what the characters’ relationships were. For example, Friar Lawrence stood physically taller than Romeo and Juliet on the set to symbolise that he was the mature voice in the situation and that they were still young and naïve. Additionally, the tension that exists between Juliet and her father is particularly noticeable during the scene where Juliet refuses to marry Paris. He grabs her hair and pushes her to the ground, representing that he is in control and Juliet is powerless against him. This tension of relationships assists in understanding the characters and their authority in the play. The employment of tension is, thus, extremely effective in engaging the audience and helping them connect with the characters and story.
Dramatic Focus is extremely important in a performance because without it the audience would not know where to look, thus missing important details about the plot. Focus has been effectively manipulated in this performance before the actors have even stepped onto the stage. The set was minimalistic with only grey walls to hide backstage and black curtains marking the exits. This ensured the set never stole the focus. The only part of the set that ever drew focus was the large projection screen embedded into the wall which provided the actors with multimedia support. The costumes were also minimal and contemporary, with each character having no more than a couple of pieces to define who they were. This effectively contributed to the contemporary adaption of the original Elizabethan tale. Blocking also aided in creating focus such as during the balcony scene where Juliet was framed by the window and stood taller than Romeo to drag the focus towards her. The actors remained off stage when not needed as to not drag focus from the action, and reduced the music during climatic scenes, such as the fight scene, to ensure focus remained on the action. By deleting the unnecessary, the audience is able to easily concentrate on what the characters are saying and the event that is occurring.

Mood has been commendably implemented, to ensure the audience is engaged and connecting with the storyline.
Contemporary, upbeat, pop music is playing as the audience is seated, before a visual montage of images such as explosions, various iconic couples, hearts and ‘make love not war’ quotes is shown. These two things set the tone of the entire play and foreshadow the themes of love and hate. Music and visuals continue to work together throughout the performance to create the tone of each scene such as after Juliet meets Romeo, she is found in her bedroom with images of roses and a feminine song playing softly to represent the romantic mood. Additionally, stars are always shown whenever Romeo and Juliet are together, symbolising that they are eternally star-crossed since, after their death scene, stars continued to be shown. The actors also portrayed the performance humorously, giving it a comedic tone, such as how a male personated the maid, wore an amusing costume, and altered his voice and movements to entertain the audience. Thus, the element of mood has been effectively applied throughout the play, helping the performance to
flow.
‘Shake and Stir’s Romeo and Juliet’ is a riveting performance for students who find it easier to connect with a contemporary adaption, than a Shakespearean play. The elements of tension, focus and mood, along with direction, visuals and sound have all come together and been effectively utilised to create dramatic meaning for the audience. In conclusion, these elements have created a whimsical, captivating performance about love and hate, and how each one can tear people apart, but also unite them.