We sat for over two-and-a-half hours of the play, our eyes and ears straining for the ‘social messages’ as promised. They were there at certain instances, but the sheer length of Theatre Lab’s Romeo & Juliet overshadowed the good parts. The play looked promising, despite starting 40 minutes late. Directed by C.H. Jayarao, who has been trained at Koothu-p-pattarai, it had grand sets and a young cast, many of whom seemed to have potential.
The play began with the street-side brawl between the servants of Montague and Capulet; the ball scene where Romeo first meets Juliet (with an item-number thrown in); the balcony scene where the couple professes their love for each other; their secret marriage… the Shakespearean drama was played out in Tamil with sincerity. But this is where it went wrong: we expected more; perhaps a new interpretation of the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers.
But the play did have its positives — the crew that arranged stage-props in-between the scenes brought us back in time with their dialogues. For instance, they wondered how Juliet could marry at 14. Wasn’t it against the law to marry so young? But then, reminded another, it was allowed during those times, where people were much healthier.
After a scene where Lady Capulet attempts to convince her daughter to marry Count Paris, who was to come to the family ball, the crew discusses the conversation the mother and daughter had about being ‘ready’ for marriage as they moved the props about the stage. Friar Lawrence too had socially-relevant messages to convey; in his discourse, he laments about “babies being born with diabetes” these days.
The dialogues, though well-written, were at times barely audible as a result of the audio settings. But there were plenty of romantic lines that brought a smile to the face. The lead couple had a good chemistry going. A laudable attempt, but does the present generation have the patience to sit through an almost three-hour-long Tamil rendition of Romeo & Juliet ? Perhaps if it was done differently.
