"Romeo & Juliet" by William Shakespeare.

Nottingham Shakespeare Company

St John's Church Carrington, Nottingham.

I've never seen any production performed in St John's Church in Carrington, but what a beautiful setting for one of Shakespeare's most beautiful tragedies. Shakespeare wrote many of his plays to be performed in non-theatrical based surroundings, often from the back of a dray in the 1500's, and the Nottingham Shakespeare Company revel in performing in venues that are not the standard.

Performed in the way that Shakespeare intended the majority of his plays to be performed, straight through without a break. The only reason intervals were first introduced were when plays were moved from outdoor stages to indoors, and the only lighting was by candlelight; the interval was incorporated to trim the candles so that the audience could adequately see the performers on stage. see you can learn something from my reviews!

"Romeo & Juliet" is the age old story of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl fakes death to be with boy, boy discovers dead body of lover so kills himself, only to be revealed that girl’s death is fake and so overcome with grief, girl kills herself for real. The story itself may be old but the production has a contemporary feel and look.

This feel is via the staging, which is minimal, but works well for the balcony scene. For me I didn't need any other scenery because the story telling is so good, as anyone who has seen the Nottingham Shakespeare Company before will attest to.

The look is with the costumes. Leather trousers with just a hint of steampunk influence and a sniff of The Matrix.

The cast are hypnotising and I really can't choose any actor over another. It would be like complimenting one ingredient in a tasty recipe, you know that together that cake tastes salivatingly delicious and to dissect the importance of any ingredient would be impossible because the overall taste would not be the same. that is what this cast is like. It's what the Nottingham Shakespeare Company are like on every production.

Romeo, and Abraham, one of the loyal servants of the Capulets' household, is played by Harriet Cadman.

Juliet, and Samson, another of the Capulet family, is played by Emily Ashberry.

These two, and especially in the scene where Romeo, unknowing of the plan, finds Juliet's lifeless body and decides that he can't live without her, and then when Juliet comes round and finds Romeo, rightly left the audience in complete silence with the intensity of the scene. Emily's musical talents can also be heard at the end of the show as she wrote and performed the music you hear at the end.

Benvolio, Lord Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin, and Watchman, is played by Elliot Mattingley. Breaking the news of the loss of Mercutio to Romeo was intense, the opposite of Benvolio's match-making with the two lovers where everything was more playful. Elliot is also responsible for the set.

Cat Prescott makes her directorial debut with this production as well as playing Lord Montague, Friar John, Peter and gives the Prologue. What I loved about the Direction was that the pace of the story was kept up and as soon as one scene was done, the next characters were making their way to the set; no waiting about, which kept the intensity and build of the story ongoing.

Friar Laurence is played by Toni Tailor-Bird, as well as playing Rosaline and Gregory. Laurence is responsible for the idea to get Juliet out of the arranged marriage of Juliet and Paris by sourcing and providing Juliet with the drug. The look that Toni gives when she has found out that the intended good deed has gone awry is really heart-breaking.

Nurse is played by Alex Chalk and also plays Apothecary and Watchman. Alex makes his NSC debut in these roles but I remember seeing Alex as Tom Snout in The Arcade Players production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" last year. Alex provides a lot of the comedy as Nurse, as he did previously as Snout.

Capulet is played by Michelle-Louise Wright. For me, one of the highlights of Capulet's role is when he is telling Juliet, in no uncertain terms, that she will be marrying Paris. The passion, and then anger in this particular speech is almost like a virtual slap in the face for the audience.

Olivia Newton plays Lady Capulet and Balthasar. Olivia is also responsible for the choreographed fight scenes. Olivia brings out the dutiful wife, turning her back on her daughter's pleas.

Mercutio, and Prince Escalus, is played by Laurence James-Davis, who makes his debut with the Nottingham Shakespeare Company, although not his first Shakespearian rodeo! There's a lovely light and shade with Laurence's acting. Very playful and flirty but his death scene was very realistic, even having oozing blood from his wound for realism. A fine addition to the NSC family.

Tybalt is played by Ken Ogborn, who also doubles up as Paris. Ken has been acting for well over twenty years, his debut being in the year 2000, and obviously knows Shakespeare inside out.

I've now seen several productions by the Nottingham Shakespeare Company, in several different performance areas, and I've never been disappointed. They present Shakespeare in a simple to understand and fun way, accessible to all ages, proving that absolutely everyone can enjoy Shakespeare. It's not cheap putting on these wonderful, colourful pieces of theatre, so all ticket sales help keep this troupe performing. Some of their shows are even free to attend, so check out their web page and Facebook page for future productions.

And for anyone who still believes that Shakespeare is too difficult to understand, or is not for them, come see Nottingham Shakespeare Company, and their productions, because they will prove you wrong.

For details of the full tour of "Romeo & Juliet", please see the flyer below.