ROMEO AND JULIET Begins This Month at Court Theatre

Romeo and Juliet is shorthand for romance. "I don't think that there has been another play written in 400 years that captures the passion, danger and excitement of young love", says director Ross Gumbley.

In 44 years and with over 800 productions under its belt it may be surprising that The Court Theatre has never before staged a production of Shakespeare's timeless story of star crossed lovers. But that is about to change. The Court is set to mount an epic scale production of Romeo and Juliet which will open on 30 May.

"In the old Court Theatre at the Arts Centre we just didn't have the height to play the iconic balcony scene in Act 2, Scene 2 and give justice to the full scope of the play", says the show's director and Court Artistic Director, Ross Gumbley.

But that doesn't mean The Court doesn't have a Romeo and Juliet pedigree. Former Court Theatre Artistic Director Elric Hooper played Balthasar and understudied for Romeo in Franco Zeffirelli's famous 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet.

"To act and sing in Zeffirelli's spectacular operatic and cinematic production of Romeo and Juliet was a wonderful start for a career. Naturally when I directed the play for Canterbury University, I was heavily influenced by Zeffirelli", says Hooper. "The play's energy must surely inspire The Court."

Will The Court be presenting a period piece or creating something new?

"We auditioned lots of periods," says Gumbley. "We want it to sing to the audience now, not be a museum piece like a coin locked in a cabinet gathering dust." The show will feature a set designed by Julian Southgate which will utilise the full width and height of the stage. The set draws strongly from the marble buildings in the northern Italian cities of Turin and Bologna.

"Verona will be a grimy urban landscape that has the kind of grandiose beauty sought out by sightseers but which is treated contemptuously by the people who live in it," says Southgate. "It is the trap from which they can't escape."

Work on over 65 costumes began over a year ago for costume designer Tina Hutchison-Thomas.

"We were gifted a collection of dresses from a woman who had lost her wedding gown business in the quakes. We have stripped them back and up-cycled them into lavish gowns for the party scene where Romeo sees Juliet for the first time and falls in love", says Hutchison-Thomas.

In addition to the ball gowns, The Court Theatre's costume department is creating numerous unique pieces including Juliet's dressing gown which features 20 hours of hand smocking.

This production of Romeo and Juliet will honour Shakespeare's original script. However director Gumbley and The Court's new Literary Manager Allison Horsley have edited it down from over three hours to appeal to a contemporary audience... and bladder.

The actors are drawn from amongst The Court's most beloved, along with actors from around New Zealand making their Court debut. Included in the cast are six third year actors from the National Academy of Singing and Dancing in Christchurch.

Fight director and action-specialist Tony Wolf has been brought from Chicago to choreograph the fight scenes. The show promises to be beautiful, very muscular and alive.

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