Romeo & Juliet - Duke of York's Theatre

I was sat in row D of the Upper Circle. The screen moves out of the way when not in use. On one occasion, the projection started before the screen had moved into place, but it was quickly visible. Apart from that, the projections were all fully visible. It may depend of where you are positioned but there are occasions where cast are lying or sitting on the sides of the stage and this may be slightly blocked by the curve of the upper circle or the heads of anyone leaning forwards. I don't know about the other levels but it was quite dark in the upper circle even in the interval - too dark to read the programme.

dip - you might want to post on Twickets, since it's quite short notice! Many people will have alerts set up for when an R&J ticket is listed.

You are right, polarising is the wrong word, sorry. I meant something that sparks discussion / multiple opinions. Which this certainly has, for example this thread has double the views / replies of most plays on here. Including Macbeth with David Tennant. Lloyd and his casting certainly attracts audiences and opinions! 

On a side note did anyone else see this?, made me laugh - https://www.tiktok.com/@justsammorris/video/7368891087991098657

He had me at "an audiobook for Cats"!

Thanks for this advice - box office is going to try and sell them for me

1 have 1 ticket for Friday 24th Evening and 1 for Saturday 25th Matinee for sale on the noticeboard.

Somebody in front of me was asked to produce ID on Saturday and was rummaging through a bag for it. They had already had their ticket scanned first.

Thank you for the replies. Good that they are checking this time 👍 will make sure I take mine when I go 😂

God this is pretty fn bad

I think most of the cast need elocution to speak normal day to day English first

Before they tackle verse

There is zero regard for iambic pentameter with several actors entirely devoid of any diction or enunciation skills

Just arbitrary dialogue

And sitting there I got the distinct impression the actors were reciting lines without any understanding of the text

It’s like the end of a roast dinner

Just a few scraps of fatty meat, gristle and bones

Not fit for a dog

Surprisingly I think the main fault lies with the casting and acting

Rather than the direction

I have a lot of respect for Jamie Lloyd but here his lack of respect for the text along with the atrocious acting falls flat

He has a distinct directorial style which means the source material has to be hammered and forced to fit his needs and terms and vision irrespective of if this is the correct approach

This style is not particularly unique as many European theatre directors had his ideas years ago

Maybe he should try directing a film instead of ramming constant camera work on stage

If we are going to name names

Freema was like Mistress Quickly on acid visiting Birds of Feather
Utterly horrific to watch

Nima Taleghani has the worst diction of any actor I have heard and I feel somehow this is his normal speaking voice

Honestly I feel sorry and embarrassed for people paying 250 quid for this
If you compare this to the great Shakespearean actors
It’s laughable

The recent Almeida staging and the amazing Rupert Goold RSC stagings are my all time favourites

I left at the interval

You all laugh at Dr Ranj cast in &J

Where is the acting excellence in R&J and all these apparently amazing talented people who deserve to take the roles??!!

Whoever cast this R&J didn’t have acting skills in mind

That was what I liked about it. It made sense of the whirlwind romance and the suicides. It could have been a really visceral ending, but instead my reaction was “oh, they’re just going to sit there, are they?” Really was style over substance.

parsley1 were you on row F by any chance? The man I was sitting next to clearly was not enjoying it in the slightest and fled at the interval too.