Review: Romea & Julian

Romeo and Juliet is a tale as old as time; it’s been performed countless different ways over the years, making it extremely rare to produce a new meaning each time you watch it.

Gender-bent, glam-rock Romea and Julian, directed by Laura Kressly and presented by Purple Ostrich Productions, was one of those rare times. With bright 80’s jackets and glitter smeared on each actors’ face, we’re thrown into a glam, Bowie-esque era. We’re immediately introduced to a female Romeo (Romea) played by Isabelle Schuler. Love-sick Romea, pining after Rosaline is both endearing and relatable, and it’s refreshing to see an instant openness to her bisexual nature.

The neon 80’s theme is continued as audience members are handed glow sticks as invites to the Capulet ball. Teamed with the glittery faces, I expect the ball to be some sort of rave, however, it doesn’t live up to that expectation – a missed opportunity, perhaps. However, the meeting of strong-willed Romea and the meek and reserved Julian (Jamal Franklin) is tender and fuelled with the right amount of teenage drama.

Seeing these two dynamics switched is a refreshing one, and a male Julian makes the relationship between him and his sassy nurse (Elham Mayhoub) even more endearing and humorous. Mayhoub is hilarious as the nurse; with her northern accent and dramatic gestures, she goes down a storm. Similarly, Acushla-Tara Kupe as Lady Capulet is a delight; a sunglasses-wearing, nonchalant alcoholic, ambling into Julian’s room to dictate that he finds himself a wife. These two dominant women teamed with a soft, sweet Julian creates a really wonderful dynamic.

What a gender-bent Shakespeare production really shows is how fun and exciting male roles are. Romea drives the story forward; she knows what she wants and goes for it. Similarly, Mercutia (Acushla-Tara Kupe) is cool, collected and funny; sharply poking fun at Romea’s love sick nature. Seeing female friendships this way is not only revolutionary, but accurate.

Overall, Romea and Julian proves that this tale is truly universal. It sees through gender, race, age and time. The cast present the story with ease, making the language easy to understand and relatable to a contemporary audience.

Catch Romea and Julian TONIGHT and TOMORROW NIGHT at The Bread and Roses Theatre, Clapham.

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Review: White Teeth

So, it’s been a while… Unfortunately, London can be an expensive place, which means tickets to the theatre can fall to the bottom of the priority list after the food shop! However, it’s always lovely when you can grab £10 tickets to a preview, especially to one of your favourite books adapted into a play…

White Teeth by Zadie Smith is on my “unforgettable” list of books. I think the reason for this is Smith’s incredible ability to create raw, flawed, yet loveable characters, making her stories stand the test of time. White Teeth throws us into the world of Kilburn High Street, which was exactly where we were, actually – in the newly refurbished and renamed, Kiln Theatre.

With such complex, intertwined tales and characters, I was intrigued to see how this story would translate to the stage. Stephen Sharkey’s adaptation introduces us to Rosie (Amanda Wilkin), a twenty-five year old dental nurse who discovers she’s pregnant, thus bringing up old discussions with her mother, Irie (Ayesha Antoine) about her father – a secret her mother has kept for her entire life. With intrigue built in already, the play can then begin to propel the story forward, in the form of Rosie’s coma-dream.

In Rosie’s dream world, her mother takes her back in time; this is done very cleverly with jagged body movements, along with distorted loud sounds and music. Irie’s story is told with the help of Mad Mary (Michele Austin), a mad Jamaican woman who has paced Kilburn high street throughout the decades. Mary is the constant, the glue who keeps the story moving, occasionally interjecting with words of wisdom: “This empire is a hurricane. It chew us up and spit us out.” Austin does a wonderful job of portraying this wild character, who somehow seems rooted in reality. At one point she becomes a well-spoken, middle class parent at a PTA meeting, a stark contrast to Mary, proving very funny.

A sense of the rich multiculturalism of London and the impact of culture clashes runs throughout the play. Irie comes from two worlds: her mother, Clara (Nenda Neurer) is Jamaican, and her father, Archie (Richard Lumsden) is English, yet Irie has only ever experienced English culture. Her friends, Magid (Sid Sagar) and Millat (Assat Zaman) Iqbal are Bengali twins with a strict religious father, Samad Iqbal (Tony Jayawardena), who is shrouded in his own guilt from having an affair with the boys’ school teacher, thus fears the impact of “corrupt” English culture on his boys.

The cast on Kilburn High Road. (Source: The Evening Standard Online)

The story is accompanied by an original score by Paul Englishby, with slick direction from Indy Rubasingham and movement direction from Polly Bennett. Combined, this zaps energy into the piece, with catchy upbeat songs like the opener, High Road. However, not every song is a hit, and feels like unnecessary filler, like ballad Not Necessarily, funnily enough. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Beauty Hurts, where we see Irie attempting to get her afro hair straightened with chemicals so she can win the affections of Magid, who pines after white girls. This song is both entertaining, and draws into a central theme of the play; what is your true identity when you are between two cultures?

In the midst of this, we are torn between who Rosie’s father is: Is it Magid or Millat? One, rebellious and extroverted, the other studious and meek. They only become more distant as time goes on, as their father can only afford for Millat to continue his education in India, away from the corruption of English culture. Almost like a scientific experiment, Millat’s experiences draw him to science, Magid’s draws him to religion. Their reunion is explosive.

A lot of themes are covered: religion vs science, family values, culture clashes and an overall celebration of diversity. This can prove challenging to explore in one play, and these messages are occasionally fed to the audience with a great deal of exposition from Rosie and Irie. Ultimately, this can prove jarring at times, as simply watching the events unfold by themselves is the real beauty of the piece.

Overall though, flaws and all, White Teeth is a celebration of diversity and our differences, and it really brought a smile to my face. If you’re looking for a fun piece of theatre in a funky little venue, then I thoroughly recommend popping along. You can book your tickets here.

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