April 27, 2017 - Of all the things we were going to see in the U.K., I was really looking forward to going to Shakespeare's Globe theatre. The performance scheduled was Romeo and Juliet and who could mess that up?
I now understand why the Artistic Director here is in trouble. This is a shot from the show and to be charitable, it was a hot mess. It was loud, strange, and a mix of Kabuki theatre and performance art.
I understand the desire to be edgy, but when (I am not making this up) Tybalt is presented as a dog on a chain, Romeo and Juliet are pushing 40, and the song 'YMCA' is a central set piece it all becomes just noise.
When you would hear some of those marvelous lines, the audience would hush, only to see Benvolio come on dressed as Pluto and the moment was ruined.
The sword fights were with nerf bats. Not to be safe, the looked like Nerf bats. And to do all of this not in some Fringe Theatre show, but in a beautiful replica of the original Globe theatre, is a shame.
"But Glenn , how did you really feel"? I can say this - Michelle Wafford Mannweiler you were better. Much better. (As was the rest of the cast)
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