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?
