On Tuesday night, we had the absolute pleasure of watching the return of Shakespeare at Stafford Castle, as Romeo and Juliet took to the stage 2 years later than originally planned.
If you’ve never been to Stafford Castle before then you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s really well signposted from Stafford itself and parking is a breeze with incredibly efficient marshalling. The walk up to the castle is uphill through a beautiful tree-lined path strewn with lights, this already makes you feel that you’re about to have a magical night. For guests with mobility issues then there’s motorised transport available to help up and down the hill, although there may be a wait at busy times.
Once up at the foot of the castle the temporary staging, seating, toilet and food and drink facilities are all well laid and out and close to one another. There are plastic walkways making access easy whatever the British weather may throw at you. In terms of food and drink, there’s a 3 tent outlet that has a well-stocked bar for pre-show and interval drinks, as well as tapas on offer. We didn’t have any food but it smelt absolutely divine! We grabbed a pre-show drink and pre-ordered our interval drinks, much easier than queuing at the midway point. Over to the left of the food and drink outlet, there’s a range of benches, tables, sofas and chairs where guests can sit and chat.
For 2022 the setting comprises of two covered angled seating stands, this year titled “Montague” and “Capulet” in recognition of the respective houses of Romeo and Juliet. The stands are separated by the main entranceway with a separate mobility assistance entrance being provided, as it has been in previous years. The seating stands join directly up to the stage meaning that guests get a great view across the stage of the performers as the show progresses and the characters move around the set.
With our drinks in hand, we took our seats in Montague, a couple of rows behind a row of mayors and across from Christopher Biggins who was also in the audience.
If you’ve not been before he’s a few tips.
- Bring a cushion/seat pad – the performance runs for around 3hrs so bums on plastic seats go numb!
- Bring a blanket – this is an outdoor event, you’ll be thankful for the blanket if the wind gets up or the sun goes down.
- Coats, hoodies, body warmers – It’s England, the weather can soon change so be prepared. If it rains then the seating is covered. However, if you’re near the front, or on the end of a row then you may still be exposed to the elements.
- Pro tip – pack a travel tea/coffee that you can break out in the second half. This will warm you right up as the show reaches its finale!
Romeo and Juliet is a well-known love story, that’s been around for hundreds of years. Despite its history, the play still speaks to modern-day audiences and this Tim Ford produced version hits the spot with a nod to the presence in its production.
The casting across the production is top-notch, mixing incredibly established actors to more recent acting debutants. Romeo, played by Tom Lane, is a perfect example of a relatively new actor who’s worked his way through to this leading male role. On a personal note, we really enjoyed the warmth and humour of the character “Nurse” played by Gill Jordan, her performance leaving us equally with laughs and sadness as she guided Juliet (played by Madeleine Lesley) through her love story. The entire cast was amazing though, each played their part believably and made their roles their own.
Musically the original music score was both haunting and dramatic, almost constant throughout the performance with the actors playing a myriad of instruments to bring the play to life. From incidental music to full songs for the party scene, the music production never overpowered and created fun and dramatic emphasis as required.
The whole staging of the show was a triumph, with the Stafford Castle remains illuminated in the background and a subtle lighting arrangement that accentuated but never detracted from the performance.
From the opening of Act One, the audience watched on as the story evolved in front of us. We learnt more about the feud between the two families that love saw no bounds to. Act One closed with the death of a Capulet family member in a pool of blood with a red flare used as the actor’s body left the stage.
At the interval, we went off to collect our pre-ordered drinks, sat down on a sofa and enthused about the first half to each other. With the call to return to our seats, we duly took up our seats just in time for the rain to start.
There’s something magical about an outdoor production, the set is an outdoor courtyard so the weather provides natural visual effects in terms of lighting, wind and rain. As an emotional Juliet looked to the sky, the light rain fell upon her face as she smiled – magical!
Act Two is where the real tragedy enters the story as the world conspires to keep Romeo and Juliet apart. Despite plans to escape with Romeo, communication problems and an unfortunate sequence of events ultimately end up with the lovers both dead, together forever in eternity. The actors did a wonderful job in portraying the love and despair that they both encountered.
As the show closed the audience rose to provide a standing ovation to the cast, crew and everyone involved in bringing Shakespeare back to the castle.
We can wholeheartedly recommend the show, it’s accessible to everyone and is a great way to spend an evening. From the opening of Act One, we were spellbound for the three hours of the performance.
The show runs until Saturday the 9th of July and you can find more details and book tickets on the Stafford Gatehouse Theatre website – Romeo and Juliet.
Toilet facilities – where there were 12 stalls, shared between males and females, and a urinal unit for the gents to use. A wider accessible toilet is available closer to the arena for those who needed it.
