Romeo and Juliet in a Nutshell

Bell Shakespeare’s new production of Romeo and Juliet will see this popular play stripped of sentimental overlay and taken back to its roots, while the audience will also be transported to Shakespeare’s time by experiencing the play in the round.

“When you are working on a play as famous as Romeo and Juliet it has cliches attached to it, and like a lot of Shakespeare’s plays that have worked their way deeply into the culture (and) you think that you know the play, but you don’t actually know the play,” said Peter Evans, director of Romeo and Juliet and artistic director Bell Shakespeare.

Evans is concerned that the play is so intrinsically linked to the phrase “star crossed lovers”, implying that the two main protagonists are doomed from the start.

“I don’t approach it thinking about star crossed lovers as I don’t think it is about fate,” Evans said.

“Of course it is romantic and (is) about love, but it is also deeply sad as it is about the tragedy that is a series of accidents that leaves four young people dead in the play, and the society and families’ role in that is really what the play is about.”

Evans is known for his knowledge of Shakespeare where he delves deeply into the text but is also not afraid to shake things up, particularly with casting.

In this version of Romeo and Juliet, Evans has cast females into the male roles of Mercutio and Paris.

“When you have an ensemble, you cast from a group of actors, not necessarily do you cast age appropriate and not necessarily gender appropriate,” Evans said.

Mercutio’s role is critical to the play as it is his misguided juvenile energy and outlook that creates the play’s turning point.

“Mercutio is an enormously charismatic character with a huge imagination, but he is also a young man in that he has an immature relationship with sex,” Evans said.

“In a lot of ways it is easier to explore that with a more mature person, and Blazey (Best) is extremely good at Shakespeare and the text, and has a huge imagination herself.”

“It is a very exciting and gorgeous comedy romp until Mercutio dies and I have thought a lot the way in which this reflects destruction and how this sets in motion a train of events that are tragic for so many,” said Blazey Best.

“I have put a lot of male energy and spirit into playing Mercutio.”

Romeo and Juliet will be the first production for Bell Shakespeare at the Neilson Nutshell, their new purpose built premises on Walsh Bay’s Wharf precinct.

The 300-seat space is configured so that the audience are seated on three sides of the stage, with no-one more than three to four metres from the actors.

“I love being so close to the audience, which always the main character and one that doesn’t always know how important they are in a space,” Best said.

Romeo and Juliet are played by Jacob Warner and Rose Riley respectively.

Until August 27

The Neilson Nutshell, Pier 2/3, 13a Hickson Rd, Dawes Point

www.bellshakespeare.com.au/romeo-and-juliet