Shakespeare's verses trip up another cast

WHEN it comes to Shakespeare, the language is the thing. When handed to fine actors who understand the words and deliver them with all the requisite nuances, the meaning registers instantly for the audience. Unfortunately, not many local Shakespearean productions have succeeded in doing so. In fact, you can count on your fingers the number of Singapore-born actors who can speak Shakespeare effortlessly.

The young cast in the current production of Romeo and Juliet by Toy Factory Productions is struggling - and I do mean struggling - under the weight of the language. The cast is so young that even the oldest characters like the Friar, Nurse and Lord Capulet are played by baby-faced actors in their 20s and 30s. Each actor seems to have invented his or her way of coping with the Bard's daunting verse, but these vary so from each other that the actors seem to be in different plays.

Benjamin Kheng as Romeo intones every line with the same unvaried breathy romanticism. Ethel Yap as Juliet is far better at emoting, but her performance swings manically from one spurt of romantic anguish to the next. (Someone needs to sit down with the couple and plot a proper character development chart.)