RSC Romeo and Juliet

A clarinet plays the first four notes of the Godfather theme, then turns off into something new. RSC's production of Romeo and Juliet dangles in a different kind of Italy. It is set in a Mafioso world of double-breasted suits and switchblades, and if Hollywood and HBO have taught us anything, it seems a clever place to stage this epic tragedy. With its strict (albeit somewhat ironic) sense of honour and crushing presence of hierarchy, where better to turn a simple love story into a convoluted series of murders?

Anneika Rose, as Juliet, captures the youthful energy of her role with a fun teenager 'tude, while David Dawson's Romeo encapsulates the clumsy desperation of adolescent love. The large cast, including musicians, sets the tone marvellously – but the monochrome production really only pushes the "star-crossed lovers" forward for attention, losing some engaging characters to the background.

It is a dark and stark set, which works stunningly for the final scenes, but leaves some of the merrier moments feeling cold. The production is slick and perfectly executed, relying on lights and music to take us from one scene into another

Director Neil Bartlett's modernisation of this story differs from other adaptations in a fundamental way: while West Side Story depicts a love forbidden by society's barriers, this performance reminds us that the duelling families of Montague and Capulet are "alike in dignity" and virtually every other way, therefore making the violence more senseless and the young lovers' frustration more acute.