Shakespeare has a large presence on Australian stages, due partially to having well known stories with rich dialogue for actors to wallow in, and partially due to being well out of copyright. This does mean that there's a risk of this work becoming overly familiar and productions going well out of their way to make themselves unique and different in a way that doesn't really serve the text so much as directorial ego.
This is not one of those productions - it's very much a back-to-basics version played out on an adaptable set designed by co-director Christopher Zuber of arches and a wall, using Rep's revolve very effectively in creating scene pictures of an earthy, brutal Verona where heat and passion can run rampant and where Romeo and Julet can escape the conflict on the top of the wall. The directoral team of Kelly Roberts and Zuber make some unusual choices in cutting the text to meet a two-hours-plus-intermission timeframe - favouring the older supporting cast (particualary Capulet, Lady Capulet, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence) over the younger supporting crew, though there's still enough material to allow Romeo, Juliet and Mercutio to make an impact (Tybalt is more defined by flashy costuming and contemptuous attitude than by anything he says in this edit).
There are a lot of elements here, some of which work better than others. There's a 70s grunginess to this production with a lot of the musical elements drawn from the CBGB's lineup of the mid-to-late 70s (Patti Smith, The Ramones), plus composer/performer Richard Manning's raw guitar sounds, though the costuming is mostly modern dress. The early presence in the first fight scene of dance elements isn't really followed through for the rest of the production, and the lack of a stage-combat expert is slightly felt - the confrontation at the top of act 2 could use a little bit more focus to sell the danger of the moments. There's some overlapping of dialogue which helps accelarate the telling but with some loss of focus.
At the centre are Pippin Carroll and Annabelle Hansen as the titular pairing. The show very much gives them space from the first time they meet, isolating them in a large party scene and breaking up their shared-sonnet meeting scene into two parts, giving us the urgent love story racing towards marriage and death - pretty much every moment the pair spend together in the narrative is on stage in front of us, and we realise how little time that is. We see Romeo transformed by his passion from the early callow youth to the passionate lover, and Juliet taking ownership of her emerging adulthood over the course of the story with the pair constantly moving forward to the next step. Elsewhere Tracy Noble is a delight as the gossipy nurse, Crystal Mahon is a suitably haughty Lady Capulet, Richard Manning gives weight to Capulet, Ryan Street has authority as the Prince and makes some unusual Peter-Cundall-esque noises during Friar Lawrence's gardening lecture, and Anneka van der Velde gives her Mercutio a true lust-for-life that is sorely missed after the character's death.
This is a solid modern take on one of Shakespeare's most well known tales, giving it life, energy and passion.
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