The Romeo and Juliet Syndrome

A play about lost love, Romeo and Juliet, fairies, librarians, Valentines Day and, worst of all, journalists, may not sound like an ideal way to start your culture packed day at the festival. However, those clever students from Leeds University have produced something that will quash those expectations. This is a show about all of the above, but it exploits the comic aspects of the love genre to full effect, whilst marinating a subtle sadness, sufficiently tugging at those sensitive heartstrings to leave you feeling suitably moved and palpably happy. Whilst the writing may not be to Shakespeare's cosmically high standards, (apart from the bits written by the great man himself), it nonetheless does its job. The performances are well honed and noteworthy, whilst also being a little naive. And yet it is its naivety that makes it so endearing. At no point does this feel like pretentious theatre, and the director even tells us in the program notes that the barrier between audience and actor is something that they have consciously tried to break down. To a large extent it achieves this aim. You will laugh with the fairies, fall in love with Juliet and/or Romeo, and become duly wrapped up in the secondary and tertiary plots, so that by the end you will care enough to be quite moved. The more sensitive of you may even shed a tear or two.