Barton's teaching was more relevant to ROMEO AND JULIET, a play
full of sonnetry. But I was nervous. 36 is no age to start playing
Romeo; and my over-earnest athleticism was more like the last gasp of
youth than the first flush of love. But at least I was old enough to
find Romeo a little ludicrous as well as tragic. One happy matinée,
Francesca Annis and I managed to get 27 intentional laughs in the
balcony scene. We played through a long season in Stratford and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and, by the time we reached London, surprise,
surprise, I was much better for the experience. I ended up quite
satisfied with my farewell to juvenile roles. Unfortunately, the
overhang of the Aldwych Theatre's dress-circle restricts the view from
the rear stalls. Sitting there, it's like viewing the stage through a
letter-box. The Capulet balcony was out of sight. I've never understood
why you need a balcony - Shakespeare never mentions the word. The lovers
are not kept apart by architecture: my Romeo, who leapt the orchard wall
and clambered half-way up the proscenium arch, wouldn't be put off by a
balcony, for God's sake! What stops him getting at Juliet, is her
insistence on keeping sex for marriage, which precipitates the whole
tragedy. The Aldwych should have been an ideal opportunity to throw
away an old tradition and to play the scene on the flat. Imagine the
emotional and sexual tension. Trevor Nunn didn't agree. He installed
television monitors at the back of the stalls.
Barton's teaching was more relevant to ROMEO AND JULIET, a play
full of sonnetry. But I was nervous. 36 is no age to start playing
Romeo; and my over-earnest athleticism was more like the last gasp of
youth than the first flush of love. But at least I was old enough to
find Romeo a little ludicrous as well as tragic. One happy matinée,
Francesca Annis and I managed to get 27 intentional laughs in the
balcony scene. We played through a long season in Stratford and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and, by the time we reached London, surprise,
surprise, I was much better for the experience. I ended up quite
satisfied with my farewell to juvenile roles. Unfortunately, the
overhang of the Aldwych Theatre's dress-circle restricts the view from
the rear stalls. Sitting there, it's like viewing the stage through a
letter-box. The Capulet balcony was out of sight. I've never understood
why you need a balcony - Shakespeare never mentions the word. The lovers
are not kept apart by architecture: my Romeo, who leapt the orchard wall
and clambered half-way up the proscenium arch, wouldn't be put off by a
balcony, for God's sake! What stops him getting at Juliet, is her
insistence on keeping sex for marriage, which precipitates the whole
tragedy. The Aldwych should have been an ideal opportunity to throw
away an old tradition and to play the scene on the flat. Imagine the
emotional and sexual tension. Trevor Nunn didn't agree. He installed
television monitors at the back of the stalls. 
