Romeo and Juliet

Those of you who know me well will know how much I absolutely hate the play "Romeo and Juliet". Part of it is because, really, I'm a cynic at heart - the idea of two young kids meeting and thinking they've found true love within the space of 10 minutes seems a bit ridiculous to me. I mean, Romeo has spent the first part of the play ranting about how much he loves Rosaline and how no-one else in the world can compare with her, and those around him roll their eyes and shake their heads, familiar with this sort of behaviour from him. Shouldn’t this tell us that Romeo has a tendency to fall in love with anyone??? Why is Juliet any different? The only difference with Juliet is that she actually likes him back (or lusts after him, from the way she speaks about him), which all culminates in their deciding they’d rather die than spend their lives without each other, even though they’ve really only know each other for about 2 days and spent about 20 minutes of that actually speaking to each other. *deep breath* Okay, English teacher rant over :). But honestly, COME ON Shakespeare! See what I told you about being a cynic?

Anyway, you may wonder why the subject of R+J would come up in this blog in the first place. Well, I had just decided to treat myself to a mini shopping spree yesterday and was gathering myself together to go out when my phone rang. It was Justin, calling from work to ask if I wanted to go see R+J at Middle Temple Hall that night. Despite my dislike of the play, the idea of seeing it in Middle Temple Hall was too tempting to refuse, so I said sure. Justin booked the tickets online and I agreed to meet him later in the evening.

Now, you may be wondering what it is about Middle Temple Hall that made me want to see a play being staged there. Well, first of all, it’s part of the cluster of historical buildings that make up the centre of legal London. Middle Temple is one of the 4 Inns of Court (the others being Lincoln’s Inn, the Inner Temple, and Gray’s Inn) that have the right to call you to the Bar and essentially become a barrister, and it’s one of the places I’ve always meant to visit but never had a chance to. Middle Temple Hall also has the distinction of being the place that hosted the first recorded performance of “Twelfth Night” back in 1602, and Temple Church happens to be right across the street (I don’t think I need to explain what Temple Church is to Da Vinci Code fans…).

So, Justin and I met at Temple station and walked over together. To get inside the Temple compound (I have no idea what else to call it!), we turned away from Victoria Embankment and walked through an arched gateway into a cobblestone street and into the 18th century. It was eerie how suddenly the noise of London just suddenly shut off and we were instantly surrounded by beautiful and somewhat imposing buildings. Since we were fairly early, we decided to go have a look at Temple Church first. The Church itself looks lovely (that's it to the left) – I’ll have to go back to have a closer look inside as it was closed when we were there, but it’s set inside a pretty little courtyard that’s just as quiet and serene as the rest of the place. We walked back to Middle Temple Hall to sit outside in its courtyard for awhile before going inside to pick up our tickets.

Have you ever gone into a building and felt completely out of place with your surroundings? That’s sort of how I felt inside Middle Temple Hall :). It’s such a gorgeous building – after we had picked up our tickets, we wandered further inside, studying the paintings and coats of arms on the wall. I went in search of a washroom and was floored to walk into what looked like any other room in the place – thick carpets, antique furniture, etc. The only clue that it actually WAS a washroom were the sinks against a wall (which were themselves gorgeous) and the small “engaged” locks that were on the heavy wooden doors around the room, which had to be the toilets themselves. Eventually wandered back outside and Justin and I headed into the Smoking Room to wait, which looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel. We sat down in some uncomfortable pink chairs and, after a few moments, I realized I was unconsciously sitting on the edge of the chair, back straight, hands folded in my lap, one leg tucked behind the other. lol. Justin commented that he felt like he was back at boarding school, which made me smile – it did rather feel like we were sitting in an old manor house somewhere in the British countryside. It wasn't long before someone came into the room to tell everyone that the Hall was now open if we wanted to take our seats. Tired of being so uncomfortable in the Smoking Room, Justin and I headed in and, fortunately, didn't have to wait too long until the play began.

Middle Temple Hall, as set up for the play. Normally it's an exclusive dining hall with tables set up that span its entire length (think of the Harry Potter movies...)

The play itself was very well done, I thought. The setting was so intimate that you were instantly drawn in – it’s hard not to be when the actors are so close to you. And all of the problems I normally have with the play were dealt with :). Romeo and Juliet’s relationship was very innocent and pure – they didn’t fall about in throes of agony over their piteous lives, but rather were joyful about the time they had together and were much more lighthearted than they’re usually portrayed. You could see that their love was new and fresh to them, and could understand why they would act as they did without anyone responsible to temper their reactions.

The cast was very young, which was interesting. When Romeo was with Mercutio and Benvolio right before the party near the beginning of the play, you could see that they were just a bunch of lads intent on having a good time – they were joking and having fun, just being normal guys. I thought the sword fighting was amazing too. Normally I find that stage-fighting looks fake and choreographed, but here it looked natural and spontaneous and, above all, fierce. It was fast and looked dangerous and made me unconsciously hold my breath because I honestly believed that someone was going to get hurt.

My favourite character had to be Benvolio though, who I normally find dull when reading the play. In this version, Benvolio was a playful guy’s guy who was always trying to do the right thing and trying to take care of Romeo. When Romeo was banished, the actor fell to his knees and cried. I don’t mean stage tears; I mean great racking sobs that looked like they would split him apart. When he looked up, the heartbreak on his face was heart-wrenching. I know it may sound like it was overacted or ingenuine but, in fact, the reaction was so real that it was stunningly powerful. The actor was really amazing. Cute too (sorry, had to add that!) ;).

Anyway, I really enjoyed myself! I thought the play was staged in a way that was probably most faithful to Shakespeare’s intentions, and it worked so much better that way. While I’ll never be a fan of it and find most versions too saccharine to watch without wanting to tear my hair out, this version of the play was more than worth watching :).

Afterwards, Justin and I walked up Middle Temple Lane, marvelling over the quietness of the moonlit street and feeling as if we had gone back in time. We finally came upon a wooden door set in the gate to Fleet Street that instantly put me in mind of the gatekeeper’s door in “Macbeth” (well, what can you expect after I’d just watched a Shakespearean play? :D). Following the directions of a little sign next to the latch that said something like “Turn and push”, we pushed the door open…and stepped forward in time, back to busy 21st century London. lol.