One More Romeo and Juliet

I was researching for my first Richard II post, and I stumbled upon this production of Romeo and Juliet produced by The Shakespeare Society and the Hunts Point Alliance for Children in the South Bronx. It's a kids production, so it's not perfect - it's not the Royal Shakespeare Company - but the kids attack it with an energy and enthusiasm that beats some of the professional productions I've seen.

Here are the links that will take you there:

http://vimeo.com/68824348

http://www.shakespearesociety.org/hunts-point.html

Shakespeare would probably have been unhappy about this, by the way. In his day there were children's theaters that were so popular they were seriously cutting in to his business - he makes a reference to it in Hamlet (which the Shakespeare Society and Hunts Point Alliance for Children plan to take on next year, according to the website). To Shakespeare, who was nothing if not a good businessman, they were a serious threat to his bottom line.

I found it to be a lot of fun to watch. The kids are great. Watch it, enjoy it, Click on their donate link.

Romeo and Juliet - Gnomeo and Juliet

This is my last Romeo and Juliet for this project, and it’s not really a Romeo and Juliet. Gnomeo and Juliet is clearly inspired by Romeo and Juliet, and takes many of its plot points from Shakespeare’s play, but it owes as much to Shakespeare as it does to landscape design and Elton John. 

Gnomeo and Juliet are garden gnomes in neighboring gardens. The homeowners’ gardening rivalry has carried over to the culture of their gnomes, who of course come to life when the homeowners are looking the other way. The gnomes’ mutual animosity is expressed in mischief, typically centered around drag racing souped-up self-propelled lawnmowers in  an alley between the yards. This occasionally leads to breakage, which is equivalent to death in the gnome world, although it is possible to be glued back together, which takes away some of the sting.

Gnomeo is voiced by James McAvoy, who is surprisingly unlikable through most of the movie. Shakespeare never went through great pains to make us like Romeo (to me he’s always seemed to be a cardboard cutout of a romantic hero), but Gnomeo, whether it’s the writing or the acting, is kind of a jerk. McAvoy is best known as Young Professor Xavier in X-Men: First Class. Action film star Jason Stratham provides the voice for Gnomeo’s drag racing rival Tybalt. It’s his usual one-note performance, but as a voice actor, he doesn’t need to punctuate his lines by kicking someone in the throat, so that takes away much of his skill-set. Emily Blunt does okay as Juliet. Since this doesn’t use Shakespeare’s lines, she doesn’t have nearly the challenge faced by Ann Hasson, Olivia Hussey, Rebecca Saire, and Claire Danes, so it’s not really fair to make a comparison.

It does not use Shakespeare’s language, although there are a few quotes sprinkled in here and there. It’s almost enough to make a Shakespeare fan happy. I can’t really count this as a Romeo and Juliet, though. It’s not in the same category as the Kemp-Welch, the Zefirelli, the Luhrmann, or the Rakoff. As an adaptation of the story, I enjoyed West Side Story more, and the ballet version less. It’s a cute and funny movie, but I’m going to rank Gnomeo and Juliet as my sixth favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s my ranking of Romeo and Juliets that I’ve seen. #1 is the one I’d take to a desert island. With a DVD player. And a generator. I’d like to say that I never want to seen #8 again, but to be honest, I’d probably watch all of them again if I had the time. Even bad Shakespeare is still Shakespeare. If I ever watch more, I’ll add them. If your favorite isn’t listed, let me know, but for now I’m going to move on to my favorite of the history plays - Richard II!:

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, and John McEnery. 1968. netflix.com, 19 SEP 2013.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, and Harold Perrineau. 1996. DVD, Twentieth Century Fox, 2007.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.

West Side Story. Dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Perf. Richard Beymer, Natalie Wood, and George Chakiris. 1961. DVD, MGM Home Entertainment, 2003.

Gnomeo and Juliet. Dir. Kelly Asbury. Perf. James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, and Jason Stratham. 2011. DVD, Buena Vista, 2011.

Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.

Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo and Juliet Part 7: West Side Story

There isn’t much I can say about West Side Story that hasn’t already been said, so I’m going to keep this short.

West Side Story is billed as a musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in the 1950’s New York City. The Montagues and Capulets are replaced by two street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets appear to be of many ethnicities, but the Sharks are all Puerto Rican. 

The story is told through song and dance. The ethnic rivalries seem unmotivated, and the “gang” dialogue sounds like it was written by people who’ve never met gang members, and is spoken by actors who have never heard gang members speak. I just can’t believe that street gangs would have referred to each other as “buddy-boy” and “daddy-o.” It always sounds fake. They sound most authentic in the “Officer Krupke” number, where they explain how the criminal justice and social services systems have completely failed to address their problems.

You can definitely see Romeo and Juliet  in this film, but for me, it’s different enough that I think it’s actually a different work. Still, I enjoyed it a bit more than the ballet version. I understand Broadway musicals better than ballet. Your experience might be different. 

This production currently ranks as my fifth favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, and John McEnery. 1968. netflix.com, 19 SEP 2013.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, and Harold Perrineau. 1996. DVD, Twentieth Century Fox, 2007.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.

West Side Story. Dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Perf. Richard Beymer, Natalie Wood, and George Chakiris. 1961. DVD, MGM Home Entertainment, 2003.

Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.

Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo + Juliet Part 6: Luhrmann

You either love this movie or you hate it. It either decodes the Shakespearean language for a modern audience or hacks the language into incomprehensible, meaningless snippets. The entire production is way over the top, which is sure to put off some people, but by the final scene it gets pared down to the story of two young people who simply shouldn’t have fallen in love.

I think before I go any further, I ought to talk a little about Shakespeare’s audience. According to the best sources I’ve read, the Londoners filling the Globe Theater came from every walk of life, from the wealthy and the educated to the poor and unschooled. It’s hard to imagine members of the upper nobility turning out to watch a play with a bunch of grocers, tanners, and clerks, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the lesser nobles show up. The cheaper area, standing in front of the stage, would have been affordable for the working-class people, while the wealthy would have paid a premium to sit in the balconies, shaded from the sun and protected from the rain. Shakespeare had to appeal to all these people with their varying interests by including in his plays as much comedy, romance, tragedy, fantasy, history, drama, violence, action, poetry, and anything else that would fill the theater.

It’s frequently pointed out that Romeo and Juliet starts out as a comedy - the wordplay between Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio is (better than, but) reminiscent of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, plus there are the typical comedy elements such as love at first sight, and the Nurse’s funniest scenes are in the first half of the play - and then turns suddenly to tragedy. The switch happens in the scene where Mercutio and Tybalt are killed. I’m sure many High School English papers are written on the subject every year.

The job of cutting a play that usually runs almost 2-1/2 hours down to fit in a 90-minute film must be daunting. When the play has as many facets as Romeo and Juliet, which appears to have been written to appeal to as many of Shakespeare’s audiences as possible, the screenwriter is faced with making choices about which of the facets to highlight, diminish, or eliminate. Apparently, you need to cut the “Poor John” joke, which I guess seems impenetrable on paper, although it is easily understood on screen. (With any other writer, you might even be able to add a line or two of your own to the script, but with Shakespeare, that is almost universally frowned-upon.) Choices must be made. You have to pick which audience you want to address. 

To me, it looks like Luhrmann decided to make a date night movie - romance and eye candy for the ladies, action and eye candy for the guys - and make it hip, funny, and modern enough to keep everyone happy up to the crying part at the end. By the end of the movie, your date should be in pretty good shape.

As for decoding the language, I’m not so sure he was successful. Shouting the words doesn’t necessarily mean you’re conferring the meaning. Neither does screaming, mumbling, or putting on a very very fake-sounding accent. I think they missed the mark there. I don’t think the acting for Romeo and Juliet needs to be particularly realistic (the characters are completely unrealistic, after all) but the actors need to keep their feet not on the ground, but plausibly close to it.

I hate Miriam Margolyes portrayal of the nurse. She puts on a terrible Cuban accent and falls flat on all the comic potential of the character. The “Over-The-Top Flamboyant Spanish” character must seem very funny to British and Australian directors (as Timothy Spall in Branaugh’s Love’s Labours Lost can show). To me, it’s just annoying. Like Jar-Jar Binks annoying.

Paul Sorvino is underutilized as Capulet, and also crippled with a fake accent. I like the idea that Capulet’s a drunk, though. I think that really works.

I like Harold Perrineau as Mercutio. He doesn’t have the unpredictable rage you see in John McEnery, or the mischievousness anger of Robin Nedwell, but those are hard to pull off. His Mercutio is over-the-top in everything he does - over-the-top joy, over-the-top anger. In a film where everything is over-the-top, it works. Also, if you’re like me, you keep thinking “That’s Michael from Lost! Let’s hope this ends better for him….”

Claire Danes does OK as Juliet. She’s not spectacular, but she does alright.

I remember when this came out I was very excited that there was a new production of Romeo and Juliet that was directed at people my age and younger. When I saw it, I thought it was excellent. That was nearly 20 years ago. The shock value has worn off. The energy of the production seems misdirected. The concept seems misguided. I mean, Yes, you can do Romeo and Juliet like this, but should you?

I still think the Post-Haste Dispatch is hilarious, though. I wish I’d thought of that.

This production currently ranks as my third favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, and John McEnery. 1968. netflix.com, 19 SEP 2013.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, and Harold Perrineau. 1996. DVD, Twentieth Century Fox, 2007.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.

Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.

Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo and Juliet Part 5: Zeffirelli

If you are had a high school English class that covered Shakespeare, you have probably seen this film. It is by far the most popular version of Romeo and Juliet ever produced. You can find it on Netflix. You can stream it on Amazon (for a fee). You can borrow the DVD from Minerva (in Maine). You can go into my cellar and find it on VHS. It’s everywhere.

There’s a lot to love about this movie. The language is beautiful (I mean, it’s Shakespeare), the cast is charming and attractive, the sets and locations are amazing, and Nino Rota’s score is spot-on.

The fight scenes are excellent. You can tell that Tybalt and Mercutio are just horsing around, even if Romeo can’t, and in the Romeo–Tybalt fight, the blind rage is palpable. Extremely well-executed.

Olivia Hussey is probably the best Juliet ever. Ann Hasson is awesome in the role, but Olivia Hussey is better.

Here’s the thing about setting Romeo and Juliet in a “real” Verona: Romeo and Juliet is a completely unbelievable story. The rules of society, place, and psychology all make a kind of sense within the story, but they don’t make any sense in any other reality. For example, that Romeo and Juliet would go from complete strangers to madly in love in mere moments. That they would go from madly in love to married to dead in less than a week. That Friar Lawrence would agree to marry two underage kids who met the night before and talked for fifteen minutes or so, and that he would agree to do this without their parents’ consent. That nobody would ask “How does a 14-year-old get ahold of a bottle of poison?” The audience has to suspend a lot of disbelief to make all this happen. The closer it gets to a real place, the harder that becomes. Shakespeare was writing for a blank stage that could represent any place or time. His audience was a bunch of Londoners who may have travelled as far as the countryside. A few of them had been to sea, and might have been to Italy or other countries, but to most of them Verona was as alien as the moon or Metebelis III, so they would be disposed to believe that people in this strange place would  behave strangely. So, beautiful as the locations are, I think they actually  take away from the film.

A bigger problem is the soundtrack. The audio is obviously dubbed. Mouths aren’t always exactly in sync with the voices, and the volume and clarity of the voices doesn’t match the images on the screen. The actor’s delivery is perfect, it just feels like the audio is coming through a wormhole. I looked this up online, and according to IMDB.com, the cameras that they used were so loud that they could be heard on the soundtrack, so it all had to be dubbed. I find it very distracting. 

Also, the hair. Capulet’s hair and Friar Lawrence’s hair: They look like wigs. It’s OK to use wigs, as long as they don’t look like wigs. These look like wigs. I know, it’s not a big thing, but it bothers me. If you’re going for realistic, look realistic.

Despite these minor complaints, this is an outstanding production of Romeo and Juliet. As Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare movies go, I think it’s the best. If I were a high school teacher, I’d probably show this one to my class. For one thing, it’s got a little bit of nudity. That always keeps the kids interested. (According to imdb.com, Franco Zeffirelli had to get special permission to show Olivia Hussey topless, even for just a second, because she was only 15 at the time of filming. Leonard Whiting’s bottom, on the other hand, wasn’t a problem because he was 17 and perfectly legal under UK and Italian law. The story that Olivia Hussey couldn’t attend the opening because she was too young to see a film with (her own) nudity in it is a myth.)

For me, though, I still prefer the 1976 Thames Television production. 

This production currently ranks as my second favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, and John McEnery. 1968. netflix.com, 19 SEP 2013.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.

Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.

Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Who-induced Hiatus

Hi, all, 

I currently have two posts in the works, and they promise to be good ones: the Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet, and the Luhrman Romeo + Juliet. They're taking me a bit of time to write. Also, I'm almost done with Kenneth Rockwell's book "A History of Shakespeare on Film," which I plan to review for the blog too.

The big holdup, though, is that the 50th Anniversary Episode of Doctor Who is coming out this month. I'm trying to re-watch seasons 6 and 7 in preparation.

I'll post before then if I can, but don't expect too much for a little while.

Romeo and Juliet Part 4 - Rakoff

Remember what I said a few weeks ago about how hard it is to cast Juliet? I said something about how hard it would be to find a teenage actress to play such a difficult role. According to imdb.com, Rebecca Saire was only fifteen when she played Juliet in the 1978 BBC production, and she did a great job. She wasn’t perfect - she’s no Ann Hasson, for my money - but she did a really impressive job with the role.

The problem with this production wasn’t the acting, (although I don’t like Anthony Andrews as Mercutio. His twitchy style makes it look like Mercutio is snorting coke offstage). The problem is the lighting. My high school drama coach used to say of theater, “Without lights, this is called radio,” which is OK, just not what I’m looking for. I get that they may have been going for a “darker” version of the play, but still, when Mercutio is giving the Queen Mab speech, or Juliet is talking to Romeo from the balcony, the audience wants to see them act, which means you don’t let their faces go into shadow. I know great lighting can’t fix bad acting, but in this case there was good acting being ruined by bad lighting. Very disappointing.

Here are some more of my notes from this production:

• Jacqueline Hill (played Barbara Wright in the first few seasons of Doctor Who back in the 1960’s) is my Fantasy Shakespeare League pick for Lady Capulet.
• John Savident kills the role of Friar John. This is a nothing role. He gets one scene where he spouts an explanation for why Romeo didn’t get the message about Juliet faking her death. Savident is a breath of fresh air, turning the role in to some desperately needed comic relief. He’s my FSL pick for Friar John every time.
• They cut the “Poor John” joke from ACT I Scene 1. It’s the best joke in the play, and they cut it.

This production currently ranks as my second favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

1. Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.
2. Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.
3. Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.
4. Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo and Juliet Part 3 - MacMillan

I’ll be the first to admit that my qualifications for this project are, shall we say, dubious. Basically, I have a library card, an Amazon Prime subscription, and an interest in the subject. When it comes to critiquing ballet I’m way beyond my depth, so I’ll try not to make a fool of myself.

Ballet on screen is very different from ballet on stage, even though this is a filmed recording of a stage production. A few years ago, I went to Boston with my family and a number of my sisters to see the Boston Ballet Company production of Swan Lake. To do that, we had to order ballet tickets, order train tickets, and make plans for supper in the city. Before any of that, we had to decide that we were going to go to the ballet and that this was a valuable experience for us. My point is that we were invested in the theater experience before we even left home. We wanted to live this experience and we wanted it to move us in some way. What’s more, the performers on stage and in the orchestra pit were invested, too. At any point in the show, any one of the ballerinas could have said to themselves, “My toes hurt. I’m hungry. To hell with this, I’m going back to waitressing at Denny’s: the pay was better, and I’d get to wear comfortable shoes.” 

This production of Romeo and Juliet is probably as good a ballet as you’re going to find. Angel Corella is amazing as the crazy-in-love Romeo. Alessandra Ferri makes mind-bending moves look incredibly easy as Juliet. Michele Villanova as Mercutio has one of the best deaths of any Mercutio I’ve seen so far. Gianni Ghisleni is a great, villainous Tybalt. The score is a classic by Sergei Prokofiev.

Making it look easy is the most impressive aspect of ballet, as far as I’m concerned. I can’t imagine the amount of practice and dedication that goes in to ballet. As I say, I am far beyond my depth on this one. 

If you only have time to watch one version of Romeo and Juliet, you probably shouldn’t go for this one, but I would encourage you to put this on your list to watch. The power of ballet isn’t in its ability to tell a story (because if you don’t know the story already, you’ll be pretty lost), but in the way it conveys the emotions of a story. That power is why I currently rank this as my second-favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

1. Romeo & Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.
2. Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.
3. Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo and Juliet Part 2 - Kemp-Welch

If you only have time to watch one Romeo and Juliet, this would be a good one to watch. Excellent directing. Excellent acting. Even the fights are believable.

Produced by Thames Television in 1976, and directed by Joan Kemp-Welch, this version is as good a Romeo and Juliet as I expect to see. 

I don’t know how old Ann Hasson was in 1976. IMDB.com has no biographical information about her, and if she wants her privacy, that’s fine. She looks to me to have been in her early twenties, but she easily passes as thirteen. If there were a Fantasy Shakespeare League, I would have her on my team to play Juliet. Her performance is excellent. Casting Juliet is a huge problem. For one thing, Shakespeare makes it clear that she’s thirteen years old - almost fourteen - and (at the beginning of the play) thinks of herself as a child. So obviously, you should cast a child actress. But good luck finding one that can play this role! Shakespeare, of course, was writing it for a teenage boy, but that’s neither here nor there. By the end of the play at least, Shakespeare wrote Juliet so that you could believe her to be anywhere from seventeen to twenty-two. I suspect most casting directors look for an actress in her early twenties and hope that the audience will play along and believe that she could be thirteen. Ann Hasson pulled it off. If you want to know how to play Juliet, watch Ann Hasson. 

(By the way, based on her performance in True Grit, I have high hopes for Hailee Steinfeld, who will be seen as Juliet in a Romeo and Juliet scheduled to be in theaters in October 2013. Here’s the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3520702745/.)

Christopher Neame is a very active Romeo. Unlike Alex Hyde-White, he understood the words coming out of his mouth. He and David Robb (Tybalt) appear in the special features discussing their memories of the production. Apparently they were in school with Robin Nedwell (who kills it as Mercutio) and fight coordinator William Hobbs. 

I also gave to mention the excellent performances of Clive Swift as Friar Lawrence (who you’ll recognize from at least two appearances on Doctor Who) and Patsy Byrne, who is now my Fantasy Shakespeare League Nurse. You’ll recognize her from playing essentially the same character in Blackadder II.

This production currently ranks as my favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

1. Romeo & Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.
2. Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.

Romeo and Juliet Part 1 - Sullivan

Yes! Now we’re in to the good stuff! Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s great plays, a true classic. It has been filmed many times and adapted to many different forms, including cartoons, ballets, and Broadway musicals. 

Only one of these is available to stream on Amazon Prime. It was filmed in 1982 by an operation called “Bard Productions, LLC” for the Shakespeare Video Society. It stars Alex Hyde-White as Romeo, Blanche Baker as Juliet, and Esther Rolle as the Nurse. 

The entire play (except possibly Friar Lawrence’s cell and the cemetery) is shot on one set, dressed as a marketplace, or an orchard, or Capulet's home, etc. The costumes appear to be a 1980s take on what Elizabethan Englishmen would have expected Italians to wear. The men are all wearing skin-tight leggings with contrasting codpieces that I have to mention because I found them very distracting (Dude! Put it away already! Get some pants, or maybe a kilt or something. Maybe a longer shirt!). Perhaps the ladies will appreciate it more than I did.

At the time this was made, Esther Rolle was probably the biggest name on the cast list due to her work on TV sitcoms. I liked her as the Nurse. The role appears to have been a little bit of a challenge for her, but her comic acting ability still shows through. Unfortunately she’s almost always stuck in scenes with Blanche Baker as Juliet. Baker seems to have learned her lines a few minutes before filming. Phonetically. Her Juliet is blank - expressionless - trancelike. She is so boring to watch, I had to start entertaining myself by watching for the shadow of the boom mic at the top of the screen. 

The redeeming star of this production is Dan Hamilton as Mercutio. I tend to think of Mercutio as a blowhard added for comic relief who gets one good speech and then dies. Dan Hamilton’s Mercutio is way more than this. There’s a deep backstory to this Mercutio. This Mercutio is a guy who’s been hurt by love. He’s angry, he’s itching for a fight, and he can’t help but use his natural charm and wit to diffuse what’s seething inside him. Your typical Mercutio steals a scene from Romeo. This Mercutio steals the entire production. 

Since this is the first Romeo and Juliet I’ve watched for this project, it is, by default, the best so far. I expect it to sink pretty quickly.

Here’s the ranking:

1: Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.