Juliet is on her balcony in a flouncy orange dress and matching heels, singing a lovelorn song in French on her banjo. Romeo catches her, not in the expected place right beneath her window, but yards away at the opposite side of the outdoor theatre. They keep this kind of distance for an agonising time, moving around the auditorium like polar opposites. The more they circle, the stronger the invisible bond between them grows, so when, finally, they meet in the middle and kiss, a palpable shockwave ripples through the audience.
If the measure of the success of any Romeo and Juliet is the degree to which you fall in love with the title characters, then Samuel Awoyo and Joëlle Brabban ensure this production scores highly. Their attraction is fierce and physical, bright and brainy. Juliet’s comment that Romeo kisses “by the book” seems less an accusation than an excuse for another snog. If there is a chance to leap on each other, they take it. Their friskiness is matched by the punchy assurance of their delivery. Why wouldn’t they be together?
That lays the groundwork for the movement of John Young’s production. His setting of the play in 1950s Italy is a nice excuse for designer Jess Curtis to kit the cast out in pale green skirts and mustard shirts, even if the theme goes no deeper than that. Rather, Young plays the first half for all the exuberance he can. There are boisterous fight scenes directed by Kaitlin Howard – Haylie Jones especially strong as a cross-cast Mercutio – and playful audience interaction, most notably from Nicola Blackman as a domineering Nurse, who interrupts her larking, on this night, to pose for an audience photo.
Between scenes, local musicians Me + Deboe add to the colour with a set of anachronistic but apposite pop songs, from Two Tribes to Smells Like Teen Spirit, with harmonious acoustic arrangements.
This makes the contrast all the more stark as the tragedy unfolds and our summer evening turns to dark night. As Juliet takes to her tomb, Curtis populates the stage with a small forest of crosses festooned with fairy lights, a suitably gothic end to an impulsive teen romance.
At Grosvenor Park theatre, Chester, until 28 August.
