Performance Review: Romeo and Juliet by Simon Godwin

Abstract

control the timing, but they all came off as well as one could expect, in what seemed to be a cross between screen acting and live stand-up. The TSMGO productions have recently started to use a signer, and they also gave the text of the play in subtitles as well as some predictably inaccurate voice-recognition transcriptions of the chat (I felt for the signer who had to do this as well, after having been onstage throughout and acting as energetically as anyone). All this is an indication of how international this company has become. Although much of the chat on Zoom is pretty silly, it sometimes contributed valuable comments. For instance, in answer to Chess’s asking whether anyone could find a way to queer the subplot, someone suggested that it could be taken, particularly in the Alchemist scene, as another example of fluidity and metamorphosis. All three productions were immensely enjoyable, and I found it equally enjoyable to see how completely the participants and creators were identified with the plays. It was clear from all the post-show discussions that the present approach to Renaissance drama is presentist. This means, among other things, not rejecting any way in which readers can make a text their own, least of all closing it off with ‘historical alterity’ – that is, telling people that it can’t possibly have meant what they want it to mean. In the case of Lyly’s plays, the results are delightful, and I hope that these enterprising groups will turn to other non-Shakespearean plays where there is much more largely unexplored territory.