Regent's Park Productions

Been very disappointed with the Shakespeare production's at Regent's Park, though going, of course, has been a learning experience.

As mentioned, I saw Twelfth Night there recently; and last night I saw Romeo and Juliet. Both under the same artistic director, Timothy Shearer. Directorial vision "overlaps"?

I think the director must recently have quit smoking. Both productions have random cigarette smoking throughout - often negatively affecting character or perhaps sometimes done just to "inject" comedy into what I can only suspect was considered a "dead" scene.

Romeo, in my view, is not a smoker, no matter how "updated" his character - his person, his costume, his haircut. To add a second Friar to Friar Laurence's first scene, to split (though not evenly) the dialogue between the two, to have them sit on fold-out chairs just to smoke while discussing the uses of herbs . . . it's just not comedy, not needed. Preachers smoking? Fine, I get it; and a portion of the audience did laugh. But there's just something potent about that scene, the Friar seeming to meditate on power, his power, with his knowledge of the killing/ healing properties of herbs, which connects somehow - one can argue about the ways - to his trying to alter the violent state of Verona by conceding to wed Romeo and Juliet . . . and it's lost for a cheap gag.

Many other textual alterations to this production and, though I didn't care for it, I will try to go back to refresh myself as to which ones - still a bit tricky catching all alterations in a live performance, I think I basically would have needed to have been off-book for all the plays being staged and all the Quarto/ Folio variants to have done this exactingly, but I do catch lots (except with, for some reason, Lear). I thought about but rejected the idea of recording the performances; conscience preventing me; bringing scripts I tried but whether standing at the Globe or sitting anywhere there's never enough elbow room to have a script open and a pencil in hand. But I think with this R & J if I can go back - there's only one or two more showings - I'll sit on the grass bank and do what I can.

The scenes after Romeo's banishment, between Romeo and the Friar and between Juliet and the Nurse, were chopped up and mixed together, which might have worked if the production were better; the end was cut to pieces; Benvolio - here, he - gave Romeo the news of Juliet's death and the Friar learnt of his letter not arriving and then Romeo was at the tomb; he gave a few lines, drank his poison; Juliet woke and said "I do remember well where I should be"; Romeo did his "O true apothecary . . . thus I die with a kiss"; they kissed; he collapses, dies; Juliet "drunk up all?"; shoots herself in the head and then the whole cast comes out and stares frozen at the audience while the Prince gives a few lines. Other changes too but that's all I'll write about for now. It seemed that basically the production was going for the DiCapprio/ Danes Luhrmann film production effect of enhancing that moment so Juliet and Romeo realize what had happened/ their fate together, but it was oh so lost/ bungled. Going back I'll have better documentary proof of the exact changes - though the post banishment scenes would be harder because of the need to flip through pages instead of just following along with a pencil. Moments like this a "jist" is probably best to convey.