The Old Hall Hotel in Buxton, Derbyshire has never struck me as being a den of iniquity. However, it seems theatregoers had a bit of a shock when Heart Productions previewed Romeo and Juliet For All Time at the Buxton Fringe earlier this year.
It seems the poster advertising the production is misleading. If you haven’t seen it yet, the poster shows Romeo & Juliet, naked apart from masks, being watched over by the grim reaper. Well, Heart Productions should have realised that the prospect of nudity in the Derbyshire Moors is a very rare occurrence and was guaranteed to stir up some excited blood amongst the gaiters of Buxton’s ageing population - one member of the audience complained, not because of the nudity, but because of the lack of it!
Well as they say, all publicity is good publicity, but what about the play itself? Well, the play is a sequel to Romeo & Juliet, which explores what would happen if Friar Lawrence could give the star-crossed lovers another hour after death to re-visit their past and try to write their wrongs. What wrongs you may ask - didn’t the lovers suffer a fate that was beyond their control? Well no, not the way Heart Productions understand it.
The playwright, Frank Bramwell has struck on a very clever idea and created an intelligently written play which luckily, never slips into an English Literature style dissection.
The small cast is excellent, with Matt Robinson (Romeo) and Polly Lister (Juliet) turning in particularly passionate, believable performances.
So, forget Shakespeare’s version, put your thinking cap on and prepare to be re-educated!
4/5
Kate Hopper
