romeo and juliet

I attended the theatre last night. This is not something I normally do, but free tickets for Romeo and Juliet at The Playhouse enticed me into the West End for a rare slice of high culture.

To set the scene: the production is performed by an Icelandic theatre group, and much of the action takes place on trapeze (much as it would have done in 13th Century Verona, I expect). Now I’m no expert, but I thought I’d compare some ‘professional’ opinions with those of my own.

‘Wonderfully irreverent, richly comic & physically daring… hot in every sense’ – The Guardian

‘Achingly sexy. Surprisingly moving. Enormous fun’ – Daily Telegraph

‘Gob-smacking. Irreverent. Invigorating’ – Time Out Critics’ Choice

‘Bold, brash, fabulously energetic &, above all, fun’ – Financial Times

‘Romeo and Juliet is something else. Hugely enjoyable’ – Sunday Times

‘This carnivalesque & risque production is a blast.’ – Evening Standard

‘Dizzyingly and beautifully moving… the production from Reykjavik brilliantly captures the reckless, hedonistic passion that makes this play such an enduringly resonant metaphor for youth’ – Metro

‘A load of old bollocks… akin to being forced to witness auditions for clown college whilst being bullied by a third-rate amateur dramatics society reciting lines they quite clearly do not understand. Unbearable’ – blogjam

Thankfully, technical problems bring about an unscheduled break in proceeding after less than an hour, and three out of the five of us choose to head for the exits, never to return.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.