Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare in the Gardens 2010, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Editorial Review The paths of the star-cross'd lovers have been well-trodden. This work was well-loved in Elizabethan England as it remains today. Age, it seems, has not wearied Montague and Capulet. The years, in fact, are a testimony to our passion for them and their youthful passion. Unlike other Shakespearian texts, Rome and Juliet stubbornly defies an academic reading. Here, there's no tragic flaw; no enduring moral lessons. It remains a document to nothing more, or less, complex than love. Local director Mick Lowenstein says he relishes working with this text. And so he should! This wonderful play is rich in prosody. But not in reading. It's one of the few plays by the Bard that stubbornly refuses to be re-interpreted. The only thing for it, then, is to change the wardrobe and setting. Hobart's Direction Theatre has elected to clothe its star cross'd stars in modern dress and place them amid the verdure of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Who, after all, needs a distraction like doublet and hose when you have one of the state's greatest gardens to seduce the eye? Bring a picnic, an ardent love of language and someone who fairness outshone only by the all-seeing sun." Helen Razer, Citysearch When: February 5 - February 27 2010 Where: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Tickets: 6234 5998 or Centertainment http://hobart.citysearch.com.au/arts/1137743638038/Romeo+and+Juliet