Gender blending bard is a girl's night out – The Australian reviews Romeo and Juliet

Chris Boyd reviews The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet for the Australian.
6/3/2012

Zoey Dawson’s all-female “Teenage Dream” production of Romeo and Juliet dispenses with a great proportion of the testosterone-driven horseplay and filthy humour. This skewing of the play towards the feminine pole heightens the tragedy – no truce between warring families can assuage the prevailing grief – without making the conclusion overly mawkish.

In addition to character doubling, Dawson’s company share around several characters, including Romeo. Five actors – everyone except Brigid Gallacher, who plays Juliet – take turns at playing Romeo. His character is donned and doffed like a shirt. A blue flannel shirt, in fact.

Apart from a few puzzling and inconsistent references to gentlewomen, the sexes of key characters are left intact. And there isn’t a hint of travesty in any of the male roles. Nikki Shiels (Mercutio) and Naomi Rukavina (Tybalt) have the acting torque and gravity to pull off the most macho of roles without spinning their proverbial wheels.

With skill verging on genius (not a word I use lightly) Laura Maitland turns the jiving Capulet into a co-starring role. Devon Lang Wilton is another shape-shifter: Lady Capulet in grey tights and high heels one minute, a spiv-like Paris the next. Carolyn Butler is a creditable nurse.

And Gallacher is tremendously affecting, raw and vulnerable as Juliet.

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