It’s been just over 400 years since Shakespeare penned Romeo and Juliet, with the classic play’s enduring power meaning a bold new production is set to light up the State Theatre Centre from Friday, June 12, to Wednesday, June 17.
It’s no secret that the continued relevance of Shakespeare belongs to his ability to read and interpret the complexity of the human heart, and Romeo and Juliet is no exception, as director Tom Healey is well aware.
Set against a divided and conservative world, this re-imagining poses urgent questions about the values we pass on to the next generation. Juliet and Romeo are taught to hate each other for no reason other than loyalty to an ancient grudge whose origins are forgotten. While they are instinctively drawn to each other, the retaliation of the world they are raised in is brutal.
This production of Romeo and Juliet, performed by WAAPA’s 3rd Year Acting Students, is set to be a bold departure from tradition. Director Tom Healey explained that “this production of Romeo and Juliet contains no tights, sword fights or codpieces. It is for a 21st-century audience – sophisticated in taste, contemporary in approach, and fearless in intensity.”
“Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because, in a world dominated by reactionary conservatives, where bullies run the streets and life is contingent on family loyalty, no spontaneous, free and intuitive love can survive.”
The defining love tragedy of the Western canon begins as a romantic comedy and ends over four days of urgency, chance, and fatal miscalculation. The reason it remains one of theatre’s most enduring stories goes beyond the heartbreaking ending but further to the question it leaves behind, which has become more relevant than ever – how do we build a world where love is stronger than hate?
Romeo and Juliet kicks off at the State Theatre Centre on Friday, June 12, running until Wednesday, June 17. Tickets are on sale now.
