★★★½☆ A thrill-ride production of the Bard’s best known tragedy, but lacking emotional depth.

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
April 15, 2016

It wasn’t just the lovers who were star crossed on opening night of Bell Shakespeare’s Melbourne season of Romeo and Juliet, which had to be halted after the opening prologue to fix a failed lighting cue. However, after a wrong-footed start, this production – the first to be directed by Peter Evans in his new position as artistic director of the company – bolted out of the gate at an exhilarating gallop.

This white knuckle romance, pumped up with teenage hormones and a brawny physicality, amplifies the baser instincts of this plot. The kisses are deep and passionate, the innuendo is crude and unselfconscious, and the fights are brutally fierce. Every character is given the shortest of fuses, ready to explode – with comedy, lust or violence – at the slightest spark.

Anna Cordingley’s set also lends itself to this constant sense of restless danger. A dilapidated proscenium with a trio of balconies at differing heights is supported by an intricate lattice of scaffolding pipes. The cast scramble and dart in, out, up and down the hidden recesses of...