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William Shakespeare's

Romeo and Juliet – 2024

May 6th - October 26thFestival TheatreTicket Info
Generally Positive Reviews based on 7 Critics
  • top 82% of shows in the 2024 season
7 Reviews
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The Guardian - Chris Wiegand

Piercing Clarity

“[Sam] White achieves a piercing clarity in a production that moves swiftly despite just minimal cuts to the text. Jonathan Mason’s Romeo works the front row with ease (“Show me a mistress that is passing fair,” he says with a wink, singling out a theatregoer) and I heard contented sighs behind me during the holy palmers sonnet. The bedroom scene is kind of wholesome: the pair dressed in billowing white on Juliet’s balcony for a brief moment of stillness before the tragedy careers towards its climax.”
[Chris Wiegand’s trip was provided by the festival]

Read Full Review06/28/2024

Entertain This Thought - Mary Alderson

Back to Basics

“This is the 6th time I have seen Romeo and Juliet on the Stratford Festival stage. With this production, director Sam White has gone back to basics. The stage is plain and simple, with just a few decorations for the masquerade ball. The balcony is the usual Shakespearean balcony, no ropes, no vines. A small bed rising out of centre stage is the only furniture.

In contrast, costumes are rich and colourful, with the Capulets in orange and red combinations, while the Montagues wear shades of green and blue, all in traditional style. It’s the lack of gimmicks or quirks in this show that I appreciate…

In 2017, Sara Farb gave us a feisty and strong Juliet, which worked well. But here’s the gimmick: Unfortunately, Antoine Yared was a weak Romeo, who curled up on the floor and cried like a baby when he was banished. I didn’t like the idea that a strong woman needed a weak man.”

Read Full Review06/06/2024

Intermission - Liam Donovan

Incredible Immediacy in Crucial Roles

“The ensemble is cohesive to a significant degree, something that shouldn’t be taken for granted, especially after the uneven nature of last year’s Festival Theatre King Lear. A chipper, bright-eyed [Vanessa] Sears and an earnest, low-key Jonathan Mason (as Romeo) are reliable as the production’s anchors, helping to ground the scenes they’re in, but it’s the urgency of the side players’ performances that really demonstrates White’s skill for directing actors: John Kirkpatrick (as Friar John) and Nick Dolan (as Prince Escalus), in particular, find incredible immediacy in their small but crucial roles.”

Read Full Review06/06/2024

Ontario Stage - Kelly Monaghan

Paint-by-the-Numbers Rendition

“There are a number of refreshing aspects to Sam White’s production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, now playing to shamefully small houses on the Stratford Festival’s main stage.

For starters, she has stripped the legendary “Tanya stage” almost to its essence, providing an opportunity to more fully appreciate its singular achievement; it is, after all, the original thrust stage, crafted to Tyrone Guthrie’s specifications…

She has also chosen to costume this Romeo and Juliet in more or less “traditional” quasi-Elizabethan fashion – tights for the men and attractive Empire-style dresses for the women – a decision that will no doubt please those tired of often arbitrary changes of time and place

Beyond that, White has given Romeo and Juliet a workmanlike, paint-by-the-numbers rendition that betrays no strong sense of a directorial vision. She has an instinctive understanding of how to stage Shakespeare on the Festival’s thrust, something that is not as easy as it might seem, and a skill which eluded the more experienced Kimberley Rampersad in last season’s King Lear.”

Read Full Review06/08/2024

Toronto Star - Joshua Chong

Beautiful but also Violent

“This “Romeo and Juliet” may be more aggressive than many others, yet it never loses sight of the play’s tragic beauty. It’s a juxtaposition — of primal violence and primal beauty — that makes White’s production most compelling, even if other ideas seem less developed in this Renaissance-set revival. …

As Romeo, Jonathan Mason plays up his character’s dreamy idealism. He sounds comfortable with Shakespeare’s language, even if his line readings rarely offer fresh insight. Vanessa Sears, meanwhile, is a charming presence as Juliet. The Broadway veteran, perhaps best known for her work in musical theatre, acts the part well, but there was a frustrating stiltedness to her line readings on opening night.”

Read Full Review06/05/2024

Broadway World - Lauren Gienow

A Moving Rendition

“Director Sam White – who directed last season’s excellent WEDDING BAND – draws on the strengths of her artists and gives us a relatable and moving rendition of this well known tragedy…

Music is used very effectively in this play with the percussionists returning to the stage multiple times to set the tone for the moment at hand. The drumming, paired with choreography by Adrienne Gould during the party scene is very well done and a fun piece of theatre. Later, the forboding and rhythmically dissonant call and response between the two percussionists leads us into climactic moments of the play to great effect.”

Read Full Review06/02/2024

Stratford Beacon Herald - Aisling Murphy

Vanessa Sears, Luminous and Vibrant

“Vanessa Sears, luminous and vibrant as the play’s ingenue, imbues 13-year-old Juliet with a high-pitched, girlish voice, while Jonathan Mason plies his Romeo with boisterous, testosterone-fuelled impulsiveness and folly. Together, Sears and Mason are endlessly watchable, particularly after intermission, when they get the chance to lean into the high stakes of their doomed love affair.”

Read Full Review06/03/2024

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