THE MOST famous love story ever will be performed professionally in Cyprus for the first time in 15 years this September. Midas Touch Productions have returned for a second round of Bard under the stars, after the huge success of last year’s Othello, with five performances of Romeo and Juliet planned in Nicosia, Larnaca and Paphos.
Midas Touch combines local talent with actors from London to stage a timeless tale of the passionate tempestuousness of youth ¼ a marriage of love and death whose force brings together two warring houses.
“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows, Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.”
The current close encounter with the red planet Mars, a name shared with the Roman god of war, provides a suitable backdrop to our story of youthful lovers (Juliet was barely 14) who shared a forbidden but dreamful delight only to be stained by mindless feuds and unrelenting hatred.
Romeo and Juliet is about violence, passion, hatred and a love so descriptive it could melt the polar caps and send a permanent shiver down the spine of any cynic or romantic.
But the long-standing rivalry between the houses of Montague and Capulet foreshadows the lovers’ fate from the start, intertwining emotions of joy and sorrow throughout the play. The couple eventually choose to share their love in death, sealing the union of both houses.
From the famous balcony scene, Romeo uses poignant imagery to make known his love for Juliet, the daughter of his father’s hated enemy:
“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!”
Despite their youth, Shakespeare succeeds in portraying maturity, humour and depth in the lovers, giving his story eternal life and providing some of his most repeated quotes.
We taste the irony in Juliet’s thoughts when she discovers that Romeo belongs to her number one foe: “My only love sprung from my only hate!”
But the futile feud between the two houses fails to spoil her burning love for the Montague son ¼ “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet”
The cast and crew shared some of their thoughts with the Sunday Mail on their respective roles and the opportunity to perform on the ‘island of love’.
British director Richard Twyman describes the play as “probably one of the best Shakespeare plays ever”, and shows equal enthusiasm for the locations chosen. “It’s wonderful to be able to perform in these amphitheatres, which I truly think are very close to the original Shakespeare productions in The Globe.”
When Twyman took on the challenge to direct Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, he knew it was a “fantastic story” but felt that the outcome of the lovers’ deaths was not so tragic, since the old rivals were finally united in peace.
“All Shakespeare plays become more and more relevant as they grow older, particularly Romeo and Juliet. The play opens with this idea of two warring families and by the end of the play, through the sacrifice that Romeo and Juliet make, they discover this peace, however fragile it might be,” he says. “They have to make the ultimate sacrifice for people to even realise that the way they are behaving and fighting is wrong.”
Using a mixture of talented Cypriot and English actors, Twynam says his aim is to tackle the play as simply as possible. “We have all grown up with Shakespeare and our aim is to treat it like any other play, not be afraid of its language. It’s just a case of exploring it and bringing it out.”
Regarding the lovers’ notable youth, Twynam has this to say: “Sometimes people dismiss Romeo and Juliet as young lovers who don’t experience real love, that they are in love with the idea of being in love etc. No, it’s them who change everyone else and make everyone else in the play love each other.”
Asked whether the two lovers might have acted a little hastily in deciding to end their lives, Twynam replies: “It’s theatre and things go out of control. But they get to a point where there are no options left to them. I think they are happier committing suicide than living life separated.”
The lead roles will be performed by two British actors, Kate Maberly as Juliet and Lee Haven-Jones as Romeo.
Kate, whose career to date has been mostly TV and film, started acting from as young as eight. By the time she was 10, she secured a leading role in the 1993 film Secret Garden. Now a rising star in the film industry, Kate has just finished filming Neverland on the life of Peter Pan author JM Barrie. Playing Wendy, Kate was under the direction of Marc Forster, the director of Oscar winner Monster’s Ball. During filming, Kate played alongside Dustin Hoffman, Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.
“Doing Secret Garden was fantastic. It was a completely surreal six months of my life,” says Kate. Working with such well-known actors on Neverland was a little unnerving, she admits, but eventually she got into the swing of things.
“It was an awesome thing to be a part of, and Johnny Depp was great. He approached me on the first day and said ‘Hi, we haven’t met’. He introduced himself and I was just like, ‘hi’. But I got over that a little.”
Discussing her first chance to tread the boards, Kate says: “I just really wanted to be on stage, and what better play than this? It’s one of the greatest love stories ever written. I have seen the amphitheatres we’ll be playing in and they are just beautiful. I can’t wait to get up there.”
“Juliet is a fantastic role, everybody knows the story and the two characters. Once you get through the language and see its simplicity, you find that truth underlies the whole story,” she adds.
As for its tragic ending, Kate offers an alternative perspective: “They end up together, just in a slightly different place.”
Lee Haven-Jones (Romeo) has just finished The Bacchai, directed by founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Peter Hall. He also played Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Royal National Theatre.
He feels it is important to avoid clichés when tackling the love-torn character.
“Romeo is a lover, a best friend and a good mate. He’s not this wet and soppy old lover. He likes to banter with his friends. He’s not miserable because of love ¼ in fact he’s passionate about it,” says Lee. “He’s laughing through the tears, making the best of it.”
Asked how difficult it was to take on such a familiar role, Lee says: “An actor brings his own baggage with him ¼ But it’s about honouring the text, not being reverential to it, though, because it’s a living, breathing, organic thing. It’s a bit like mining or excavation. You have to shed layers.”
Would he act as Romeo did if faced with the same circumstances? “I am far too happy to do something like that,” he replies frankly.
Other company members include Mark Puddle, returning from last year to play Benvolio, and Patrick Myles as Mercutio. Photos Photiades also reappears alongside Brian Ayres, portraying Montague and Capulet respectively. George Savvides, who has just finished a national tour of England with the play Lockerbie 103, will be playing Friar Lawrence. Hilary Ives plays the Nurse, Terry Dionne is Prince Escalus, Andia Katsouri plays Lady Capulet, Marios Leonidou is Paris and Alexis Michael plays Tybalt. The cast is completed by Yiannis Kyriakides as Petruccio and Andrew Zambas as Peter.
The production will tour Cyprus, opening at the Paphos Odeon for two nights on September 13 and 14, moving to Larnaca Pattichion Amphitheatre on September 16, and finishing in Nicosia at the Skali Aglandja on September 18 and 19. Tickets cost £10, available from Soloni
on Bookshop and All Records in Nicosia, Aglandja Municipality, Paphos Municipality and Larnaca Municipality. Tickets and phone bookings are also available by contacting Amalia Macris on 22-441571, 99-866099. Group bookings and student bookings will be at a discount.
