‘Romeo and Juliet’ Review: Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Headline a Shakespeare Tragedy That’s More Fun Than It Should Be
variety.comTrish Deitch You’d think in a world so divided by war and pain as ours, a story about ill-fated young lovers torn apart by their families’ senseless but devastating feud would be treated with more gravitas than director Sam Gold treats it in his somewhat vulgar Broadway adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” The Bard’s “Romeo and Juliet” is a somber play: The audience is told from the very start that the lovers will die tragically, and they’re told why.
So no matter how sweet their first kiss, or heartbreaking their two nights of youthful romance, there’s a pall hanging over the play.
Both Romeo and Juliet have terrible premonitions on the night they meet, so the vibe couldn’t be clearer. But Gold’s “Romeo + Juliet,” while using Shakespeare’s language, feels like it’s designed to draw in tweens, teens and theater-averse adults who might not otherwise be interested in Shakespeare; the trick is to woo them and then keep them in their seats with a fun hipster spectacle led by a British TV heartthrob (Kit Connor from “Heartstopper”) and a movie star with good pipes (Rachel Zegler, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story”).
Throw in a couple of original tunes by singer-songwriter Jack Antonoff and a gaggle of young actors in high-tops and baggy jeans humping teddy bears and dancing to club music, and you’ve got two hours of fun.
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