Romeo and Juliet

Rather than providing a sylvan escape this summer, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre aims straight at the heart with Kimberley Sykes’ rubble-strewn take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Performed straight through, with dramaturgy by Nic Wass that eschews the "two households" prologue and launches in on the violence from the get-go, Sykes’ production maintains a brisk pace that becomes increasingly ominous as darkness falls and the mausoleum set is beautifully lit with flaming torches.

Set in the aftermath of a natural disaster (the earthquake during Juliet’s childhood alluded to by the Nurse), the production’s design, by Naomi Dawson, consists of an elaborate structure of scaffolding with a few wildflowers peeping through and swords encased in lighting strips. The visual shorthand of Montagues in black and Capulets in white provides a sense of familiarity.

As the two young lovers, Joel MacCormack and Isabel Adomakoh Young are suitably energetic and immature, nimbly climbing up and down the set, but the all-consuming headstrong passion is a little lacking, as is a general sense of intimacy. Emma Cunniffe’s Nurse is caring and pragmatic, Peter Hamilton Dyer makes a hippy-ish Friar Lawrence and Aretha Ayeh is a strong, anchoring presence as Benvolia.

The most famous love story of all isn’t pretty, especially when imbued with generous amounts of fake blood. It might be familiar, but the vision is an arresting one and it’s a huge pleasure to see an ensemble, particularly one with a commitment to gender balance, at work again.