Tom Holland is both the draw and the disappointment in Jamie Lloyd’s overly muted Romeo and Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre
“If all else fails, I still have power to die”
All credit to Tom Holland for taking a bit of a chance with his return to the West End stage, albeit his debut as an adult. Taking on the lead in a Jamie Lloyd production, given Lloyd’s ever-burgeoning reputation, might not be the biggest risk these days but it does show willing to be part of a more contemporary and potentially exciting theatre scene than your usual stunt star casting turn.
Which leaves Romeo and Juliet in a rather interesting position. For those new to Shakespearean theatre and/or Jamie Lloyd productions (of whom you have to imagine there’s a fair few given the speed with which all the tickets were snapped up), there’s something new and interesting at hand here. For those a little more familiar, there’s a lot to be familiar with as Lloyd cleaves strongly to his aesthetic.
So we’re back in monochromatic subduedness and live video covering everything happening onstage and beyond. For those that saw Sunset Boulevard, there’s nothing to match the bravura second act opener and so it’s tempting to think how uninspired. For those that didn’t, there will be a real thrill in everything from Holland’s first appearance as Romeo to the trip to the roof of the theatre to the intense close-ups.
The stripped-back treatment is startlingly effective in the way it does away with props and set – with no balcony, swords or potions to hand, the attention lands squarely on text and the deep seated emotion behind it. It is thus a shame that Lloyd directs his actors with his mumblecore hat on; muted, murmured delivery robs too much poetry and in some cases even meaning from these immortal lines.
Holland thus presents a sombrely understated Romeo with too little to suggest the lightning charm the character needs to convince. Conversely, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers’ spikily independent Juliet does feel like someone worth stopping the world for, matched by a sparkling performance from Freema Agyeman as her nurse, these two the only ones to break through the torpor that the direction seems to encourage.
