Romeo & Juliet

Like Franco Zeffirelli's famous 1968 film of Shakespeare's play, Dominic Dromgoole's 2009 staging at London's restored Globe Theatre emphasizes the youthfulness of the eponymous couple and their friends. As Romeo, Adetomiwa Edun looks little more than 20, while Ellie Kendrick as Juliet appears to be in her early teens. And like Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey (Zeffirelli's stars), most of the actors here give performances that can most charitably be described as enthusiastic but unpolished. Edun is the most impressive of the bunch—brash but virile, with a ringing delivery, but Kendrick offers little beyond schoolgirl exuberance, and the others' efforts are too often undercut by stabs at crude humor. Zeffirelli, moreover, placed his young lovers in lushly romantic settings backed by a soaring score, whereas here the actors appear on a nearly bare stage, in relatively drab costumes, with the music confined to songs played on period instruments during the breaks. Ultimately, this production skims the surface of the tragedy—the final death scene is conspicuously unmoving—without compensating for the lack of depth with any visual richness, although the live audience (surrounding the stage on three sides as in the Bard's day) appear to be enjoying themselves. DVD extras include a quick access feature to the most famous passages, and a photo gallery. Optional. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)