Hamlet.
Othello.
And Juliet?
Tuesday, the National Broadway tour of “& Juliet” premiered in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center bringing with it a bold reimagining of the Shakespearean classic “Romeo and Juliet.”
Filled with 2000’s hits, this jukebox musical envisions what would happen if Shakespeare's wife wrote the women of one of his most iconic shows in a way that represents the female experience in a more accurate way.
While the show is based on a late 16th century play, this rendition pushes the iconic story to be more modern.
It's this modern format that allows the musical’s contemporary views on gender, sexuality and womanhood to critique old-school perspectives on these topics.
While filled with detail, the set, designed by Owen Philips and Brian Webb, felt like a bunch of unconnected ideas thrown together.
While they were trying to achieve a look that resembled a working theatre, as the show jumped between the main and plot a meta depiction of the Shakespeares’ writing process, the result just made little sense in the grand scheme of the aesthetic.
More so, one of the most egregious aspects of the set was the massive LED panel on the top half of the back wall.
While LED screens are finding more and more use within the performance space, thanks to their ability to cut costs on physical sets, the implementation of them needs to be considered carefully when crafting a show, as they can become more of a distraction than anything else.
There were many cases when the flashing changing panels went from novel to attention seeking especially as it only was used on half the stage, leading it to look more out of place than any of the practical set pieces used.
The panel wasn't the only thing out of place.
Jukebox musicals are known for their sometimes-disconnected nature from the story however “& Juliet” may be one of the greatest examples of this.
Rather than choosing songs that fit with the greater context of the show, it felt as though they shoehorned in the most popular songs they could find, in order to get the broadest audience appeal.
Where the show struggles the most though is in the writing.
Between the inconsistent way in which political commentary is dispersed throughout the musical to the dramatic tonal shifts, the biggest flaw of the show comes from the lack of uniformity in which the main themes are expressed.
The first act was where this issue was most prevalent.
Rather than making the story fully allegorical or fully on the nose “& Juliet” jumps between the two making it jarring every time they switch back and forth and often causing confusion as to what's a part of the story and what is a jab at close-minded members of society who still treat women like inferiors.
While a musical surrounding how society treats identity and marginalized groups is important, especially in today's political climate, this musical missed nuance integral to approaching conversations like this.
While the talent in the show is remarkable, the players in the musical are often restricted by the script itself.
The show was fun to watch, but nothing much more than that.
To see the show visit:
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This article was written by Zach Watkins
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