Romeo and Juliet

Take two restaurant owning families, a pinch of passionate rivalry and a whole lot of Italian sauce. Throw in a pizza slice, a clapped-out Fiat and your favourite pair of star-crossed lovers; and you have the perfect recipe for Oddsocks’ 2009 winter tour.

This is a refreshing interpretation of what is arguably Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy; reworked with the typically light-hearted Oddsocks treatment and beaten with a slapstick straight into the 21st century. Easy-going, side-achingly funny and wonderfully accessible to all ages and tastes: especially if you like a bit of pasta.

The use of media is highly effective, with a DVD operated backdrop adding an extra dimension to each scene and providing a platform for even more amusement: most particularly the delicious parody of the infamous fish tank scene in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film adaptation; as well as the background for a high-speed ‘Italian Job’ car chase and the TV kitchen of Juliet’s intended husband, ‘Gourmet Paris’ (played from behind-the-video-camera by the lovely Kee Ramsorrun).

Granted, the technology was a little rough around the edges in parts, but any teething problems were handled by the cast with professionalism and panache, adding to the overall charm of the show. Oddsocks clearly enjoy what they do, their on-stage enthusiasm and chemistry has you suckered in before you can even think to yawn.

Tanya Huq’s portrayal of Juliet is superb: a brash and sassy fox who wraps Romeo around her little finger with all the ease of an experienced mistress and the innocence of a naïve schoolgirl. The fiery Juliet is juxtaposed perfectly against Neal Craig’s Romeo, who, although trying to play ‘the lad’ and obviously harbouring all the hormones of a teenage boy, is in fact a bit of a sweetheart: eager to please, pander and gratify; the sort of fella you’d take home to meet your mum if, of course, he wasn’t the “only son of your great enemy”. In fact, Huq and Craig’s portraits are so true to the capricious teenagers intended by Shakespeare that they effectively illustrate his subtle questioning of the validity of such youthful love. C’mon, we have all scoffed at how quickly this pair fall for each other, even if we do hope that true love conquers all.

The further three members of the Oddsocks clan – Elli McKenzie, Andy McGillan and William Finkenrath – succeed in handling the rest of the play’s characters with skill, flair and well aimed wit. The humour is raucous and a little bit lairy; achieving a fine balance between the delightfully obvious and the unpredictably wry. At the same time, the tragedy of the story is handled with care: albeit rather tongue in cheek (Romeo’s exit is a particularly slobbery one) the calamity does not distract from the sadness that is due. Although in all, it's a bloody scream.

Even though most often read as a tragedy, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is inherently comic. The Oddsocks team capture this brilliantly; not only do they do the age-old classic justice, they show us a mirth laden side to the story often lost amongst the tears and woe.

Romeo and Juliet performed by Oddsocks at Thoresby Hall Nottinghamshire from November 24 to November 28 2009.

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