LONDON – Too bad for Peter Parker.
Like a fly caught in a web, Tom Holland, the British actor who plays Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is trapped in a dismal West End production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
Shakespeare’s stripped-down spectacle is a dreary, pretentious work that’s about as passionate as an economics class.
Sometimes I wanted a little game theory to spice things up.
But because of the power of Dutch superheroes, the coin is one of the most sought-after banknotes in London.
The three-month run was almost sold out before anyone saw it, and the few remaining seats cost up to $440 a piece.
If you want to admire a celebrity, be my guest. But Ambien is cheaper.
The blame for the sinking does not lie with Holland – he is perfectly fine.
The 28-year-old actor is engaging (even if, in his dark intensity, he mistakes Romeo for Hamlet) and has a respectable command of classical language.
Having played the title role in the musical “Billy Elliot” early in his career, he is no stranger to the stage.
What’s important is that Holland has chemistry with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers – as much as they’re allowed to have anyway – which makes for a particularly outspoken Juliette.
No, the Green Goblin here is Jamie Lloyd, the director known on Broadway for his productions of “A Doll’s House” with Jessica Chastain, “Betrayal” with Tom Hiddleston and the upcoming (and excellent) musical “Sunset Boulevard” with Nicole Scherzinger. .
As you might expect, his latest show is a concentration of his favorite things: live video screens, black clothing and incessant whispering at the expense of emotion and drama.
Before “Romeo and Juliet” begins and during intermission, the lights at the Duke of York Theater are dimmed — a woman next to me used her cellphone flashlight to read the program — and the house is filled with “nntz!” nntz » club music.
I asked an employee how audience members reacted to the oppressive melodies.
“They cried!” said the worker.
Lucky.
I shed no tears during this tragedy which should have occurred around two young lovers torn apart by a long family feud.
From start to finish, the production trades love and ferocity for bells and whistles.
In beautiful Verona, where we set our scene, there are not only two households both alike in dignity, there are two video cameras both alike in uselessness.
Operators film the actors on stage (or outside and in the hall) and their faces are then enlarged on a giant screen.
This struck me as odd, as audiences often get to see Holland on IMAX, but rarely in person at the cinema.
That $440 should give them privacy – not a cold, distancing movie.
In any case, the technique has no narrative logic, evokes nothing and confuses the events.
The night I went the food broke several times.
More bewildering, for much of the second act, the actors stand facing forward and speak softly at a glacial pace into the microphones.
Like zombies who got radio gigs on NPR.
Considering the poison, daggers, and death, it’s a rather offbeat choice to placate the audience and put them to sleep.
Even though his “Sunset Boulevard” won seven Olivier Awards in April, Lloyd isn’t exactly winning over his West End colleagues.
“We hope that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will hasten the end of the recent fad of transforming live theater into an elegant, quasi-cinematic experience, hooked on a popular star and a well-known title,” said a source at the London theatre.
“No attention is paid to either the text or the author’s original intentions – simply a flashy ‘look at me’ stage production.”
Added West End joker: “Two and a half hours of my life that I’ll never get back.” But it gave me time to mentally redecorate my house!
A source also said Lloyd was in talks to direct a double bill of Shakespeare plays at the Theater Royal Drury Lane later in the year – one of them possibly starring Tom Hiddleston.
This should give my source enough time to plan a complete kitchen remodel.
New York Post
