You’re familiar with Shakespeare’s most famous of romantic tragedies, but you’ve never seen one quite so jam-packed with unique ideas as this one.
New Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan (SOTS) artistic director Kayvon Khoshkam has leapt onto the scene at the helm of a truly memorable production of Romeo and Juliet.
To be clear — “memorable” is not meant to be pejorative. It’s the simplest way to succinctly summarize this clever rendition of a classic show, one that starts with flash and chaos and ends in a way you’d never imagine.
We all know the story: young Romeo (Matthew Letkeman) falls in love at first sight with Juliet (Jen Fong), the daughter of his family’s most bitter enemies. The pair fights law, family, and fate itself as they make their ultimately doomed attempts to be together.
A heartfelt ovation goes to Letkeman and Fong for bringing those seminal star-crossed lovers to exuberant life. The duo brought both an adorable zest and a tragic naïveté that made you cheer for their success and weep for their fates — and dislike the rest of the characters that fail to help the couple.
And Fate (note the capital “F”) plays a more active role in this show, with Joshua Beaudry giving body to the erstwhile intangible force. Beaudry’s presence — coupled with some clever light and sound design — added an eerie weight to critical moments of the story.
But for every idea that stuck, it seemed another just missed the mark. The show was so stuffed with ways to put a new edge on Romeo and Juliet that it could’ve fuelled four or five productions instead of only one.
Khoshkam took full advantage of the tech at the upgraded SOTS site, using lighting and sound to add an uneasy ambience to each scene. The costumes were on point, ranging from the more period-appropriate gowns and tunics to the more contemporary LED-illuminated capes and robes for the party scene. And the ending comes with a curveball that certainly subverts our long-held expectations for the famous young lovers at the heart of the play.
In contrast, the anachronisms and contemporary one-liners were more jarring than immersive. The addition of recognizable pop/rock songs like “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and “Dancing With Myself” didn’t mesh with the show’s aesthetic. A number of quick lines and exclamations made their way into the first act for laughs (like cursing loudly when a character is surprised on stage or breaking the fourth wall to share giggles with the audience) and didn’t land regularly enough to justify how many there were.
The two halves of the show felt radically different. The first half had enough out-of-script injections of silliness that it felt almost like a comedic send-up of classic Romeo and Juliet, with nearly no insertions of humour or contemporary flavour into the second act. If there were no places to appropriately add those quirks in the second half, maybe they didn’t belong as much as they were used in the first.
Yet somehow, the show works despite that chaos — or maybe because of it. The frenzied energy drove what can otherwise be a plodding Shakespearean script swiftly towards its conclusion. It’s a nearly two-and-a-half hour play, and it certainly doesn’t feel that way — which is one of the best compliments a theatre show can receive.
And the performances were killer (again, no pun intended) across the cast. Lisa Bayliss made for an imperious and unrelenting Lady Capulet, and Kristel Harder as Juliet’s Nurse played a masterful combination of doting, subservient, and domineering from scene to scene. The ensemble gelled wonderfully in each interaction, large or small, and put a fine polish on the swirling kaleidoscope of a production.
It would have been nice to let things breathe, even if just for a moment. Especially in the first act, a new scene would begin almost tripping over the heels of the previous one in the rush to move things along. And there were a number of cacophonous settings (think swordfights and parties) that, while exciting, drowned out and distracted from any lines being delivered on stage.
(Also — the actor who started the applause for themselves at the end of the show Sunday afternoon really didn’t need to. The show was way too good to not receive an ovation, and it would have happened organically if they’d waited about four seconds.)
Kudos to Khoshkam for planting his proverbial flag with a flourish. It doesn’t all come together seamlessly, but risks and new ideas are what set SOTS apart from the rest. This production of Romeo and Juliet is a riotous mix of colour, energy and creativity — and is a must-see for new and old theatre fans alike.
Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan’s Romeo and Juliet runs until August 20th. More information can be found at shakespearesask.com.
