After ten years in the Botanical Gardens producing comedies, Directions Theatre are tackling their first Shakespeare tragedy.

The strength of this production is that it tells the story clearly, simply and well.

It is directed by Mick Lowenstein, whose initial comic bent is light and entertaining, and draws the audience into the compelling tragedy.

There is chemistry between Campbell MacKenzie and Anna Kidd as the star-crossed lovers. Their scenes together are always engaging, and their final moments moved even this hard-nosed reviewer.

Initially boyish and scattered, MacKenzie’s Romeo matures with the action into a determined and passionate lover. He balances that confidence with a fear and distress, and an ill-fated resolve in the face of it, that produces some magnetic moments.

Kidd’s Juliet is bouyant, brazen and detailed. Humour and self-conscious irony serve her and the play well in the first act, though less so in the second, when a less mocking tone may have served better. Still, this is an intelligent and original performance.

There is some unevenness in the remaining cast. Unfortunately that magnificent set-piece, the “Queen Mab Speech”, falls victim to the “when in doubt, shout” technique of acting.

The Nurse of Jane Stoddard is entertainingly silly and arrestingly serious. David Bannister brings a simple clarity to the role of Friar Laurence, and Rowan Harris oozes oily charm as Paris.

Robert Jarman

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