Romeo is in a terrible sulk. Poor Juliet barely appears at all. US playwright Rachel Garnet has relegated Shakespeare’s famous lovers to the wings and re-spun Romeo and Juliet as a tragic gay romance between Tybalt and Mercutio. It’s a brave move, which leaves Garnet open to comparisons not only with Shakespeare but also Stoppard, who pulled off a similar trick in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Yet despite this heavyweight dramatic legacy there’s a wonderful sense of freedom about Starcrossed, which is very much its own play – thoughtful, surprising and original.
Director Philip Wilson and designer Ruari Murchison have created a timeless dramatic framework with a bare-bone set and streamlined period costumes. There’s a low-fi playfulness to the production. A constant stream of comic riffs and ad-libs creates a giddy sense of spontaneity and possibility and the uncanny feeling that maybe, just this once, Shakespeare’s tragedy might end differently.
