No jobs for the girls in the Lord Chamberlain's Men

By Helena Payne

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the 2:1 ratio – the depressing statistic that for every woman on stage there are two men. Men outnumber women in the theatre so considerably both onstage and in creative capacities it seems ignorant not to at least question whether The Lord Chamberlain’s Men have a place in the modern theatrical landscape or are they simply a fusty relic of a retreating world?

Romeo and Juliet set in the glamourous courtyard of The Oriental Club just off Bond Street is a celebration of the company's 10 year survival. In this climate, that is something to be congratulated; to thrive without arts funding, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men founded by Mark Puddle have stuck to simple ideas yet have done them well; a reduced company of men, multi-rolling, bombing about in the back of a van to stately homes to peddle their wares of a dusky summer evening. This is the training that to my mind makes British actors the best in the world. By constantly having to moderate one’s performance to different audience layouts and acoustics without flashy sets or lighting effects to manipulate audience feeling, the shows are entirely performance-driven. In this format, you succeed or fail by your stagecraft and vocal technique and the seven actors who made up the company of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men of 2014 have certainly earned their stripes.

It was a very stylish affair in an intimate setting; one wall overgrown with ivy and the backdrop behind their minimal set two towering Beech trees providing a verdant canopy for the two hours traffic of the stage. The costuming was classic Elizabethan and classy, with thankfully no matted wigs in sight to denote the boys-playing-girls. The performance began very traditionally with some lovely harmonic singing; three pieces in fact that relaxed the audience.

This was very much a play of two halves. It is an actor’s job to be a magpie and pick up ideas and steal thoughts from others with whom they work. Indeed it is expected, that is how you develop and grow, but is also important not to imitate. I felt that the cast were all speaking with the same voice and with very similar energy and intonation. In truth, the first half was rushed. Sometimes whilst touring in a close knit company, falling over each other, building your world, sharing in-jokes, you begin to know people so well that you start to assimilate. These familiarities can prevent the thoughts and feelings of the characters coming across as fresh. A prime example of this pre-empting was the exclamation that Juliet “was cold,” before she had even been touched.

The second half was a completely different affair; we were presented with much more relaxed actors who took their time to find their thoughts and make the story feel new again. They were clearly a very strong ensemble, but without doubt, the star of the production was Jonathan Bullock playing Juliet. Bullock was a sensation, he oscillated between earnest, heartfelt passion and endearing flirtatiousness on the spin of his heel. He caught Juliet’s breathless excitement and was utterly heartbreaking in both death scenes. Desperate, disbelieving and confused, he found laughs in extraordinary places but never sent up Juliet, which is always a hurdle with cross-gender casting. His heaving bosom and trembling lips were well-matched with Will Haddington’s playful Romeo and the tension and electricity between them was palpable. David O’Connor provided a cheerful and entertaining nurse and provided some beautiful moments of much-needed tenderness.

True, we know from the beginning that the lovers are doomed, the prologue informs us so, but it is important as an audience that we never lose hope. This is a story seared into our cultural consciousness, yet we should always feel that it could have been different and Romeo and Juliet could have ended a pastoral comedy. That is why it is a tragedy.

This show has no doubt been delighting families up and down the country, but in truth I think the atmosphere, as swish as it was, would have benefitted from a few picnic rugs, gurgling children and stray dogs. It lacked some of the magic I expect from open-air Shakespeare, but I suppose this inexact alchemy is live theatre’s charm. Hearty congratulations must go to The Lord Chamberlain’s Men for weathering a changing world, and they deserve lauding for sticking to their guns and focusing on what they know and love. It is wonderful to think that these young men have been given the privilege to follow in the footsteps of our great theatrical heritage, and I’m sure that many people enjoy the novelty of theatre that is as close to “authentic” Shakespeare as it is possible to be. For me though, unfortunately the evening missed its mark, I wanted a little more poetry and a little less demonstrating masquerading as pace.

@HelenaPayneHP

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