Love in a time of hate

THE new Shakespeare in the Park drops the four-centuries-old Romeo & Juliet into a futuristic dystopia. A grey industrial stage with interlaced Escher-like staircases hints at claustrophobia and paranoia. Its jagged backdrop suggests the steel and glass of skyscrapers battling for room at the top. The costumes and make-up are a cross between South-east Asian royalty and British punk.

The streets seem to be lined with patrol cars. The powerful do everything to stay powerful. And the young lose their innocence all too quickly. The scene is thus set for a kin…