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Romeo and Juliet Takes a Modern Twist at Det Norske Teatret

You know the story; Forbidden love between two young teenagers whose deaths ultimately resolve the immemorial controversy between their families. 

Shakespeare’s 420-year-old play takes a modern twist at Det Norske Teatret. The scenography is versatile and engaging, consisting of one moveable wall with many compartments and functions.The music is modern and dramatic. Songs by the French rapper Stromae with one Rihanna song helped set the scene. 

Axel Gehrken Bøyum and Kjersti Dalseide who play the title characters seem to have chemistry, making their love believable. However, the play has been going for over a year so if they didn’t have natural chemistry, they have nailed it by now. 

Preben Hodneland who played Mercutio was what made the show as charming as it was. He was charismatic and cool. His funny and capricious behaviour lightened the mood of an otherwise serious and tragic play. He was also, unfortunately, one of the only characters who accurately prounounced the language of the script as it was intended, in the Western Norwegian dialect. 

He talked directly to the audience at some points and was the only person singing during the performance. He sang every song. He acted as a sort of buffer between his young audience and the tragic love story that is just as relevant today as it was when it was written.

 

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