Review: Romeo and Juliet, Polka Theatre

Forced apart by generations of hatred, young eyes meet across a South London dance floor on a fateful night that will change their lives forever, so put down your swords and pick up your mics, after all, the course of true love never did run smooth.

There have been many reimaginings of Shakespeare's classic play, but this new interpretation by Conrad Murray and his Beats & Elements collaborators, still manages to bring something new to the table. Minimalist scenic design creates a perfect backdrop to the action, with a total absence of props and the only scenery being two simple structures representing the houses of Montague and Capulet, which are defined by pop-art style, neon signs of the family names.

The action kicks off with the four actors – two male and two female – beatboxing their way onto the stage accompanied by Conrad's guitar; then it's straight into the singing, with the audience being split into two – team Montague and team Capulet – and the energy never drops as the actors mime, dance, sing and rap their way through the entire performance.

Conrad Murray's adaptation concentrates heavily on the teenage love aspect of the play, which works well in the hour-long performance time and is well-crafted, with Shakespeare's language brought up to date with teen-speak that delighted the young audience and which was deftly handled, while never straying too far from Shakespeare's original text.

The four actors here cover all roles, with plenty of opportunities to showcase their full range of talents, including some beautiful vocals (especially from Kate Donnachie's, Juliet) and comedy skills, but for me it was the physical performances, particularly the slow-motion fight scenes that really stood out – expertly choreographed and performed with a great use of facial expression, and the beatboxing and use of clicks and rhythms to build energy and tension added a layer of atmosphere, and would be something to consider exploring with a class. But the big take-away from this performance was ultimately the enthusiasm, energy and connection with the audience the actors maintained throughout.

A great production with the tragedy somewhat played down here, that has you leaving the theatre with your spirits lifted, and which manages to define the message at the heart of Shakespeare's play, that love is ultimately stronger than hatred. As the play states in its closing lines: ‘But love – love can be very loud – it drowns everything else out!’