From the Gibraltar Chronicle  

Shakespeare 4 Kidz :  A delightful Romeo and Juliet Musical

by Alice Mascharenhas

Shakespeare 4 Kidz is back this week with their latest production Romeo and Juliet The Musical. Ballads and rock 'n' roll numbers are the name of the game in a production that has travelled the UK, the Gulf, Syria and now Gibraltar. The show has been playing for nine months and ends in Gibraltar.

Director of the show and Chief Executive of Shakespeare 4 Kidz, Julian Chenery, is glad to be back for the second year in Gibraltar.

Moving the set from country to country is not easy and there are adjustments with the set but essentially this is the same show wherever it has been staged drawing children into the story.

Talking about audience reactions, he says, the end result is the same everywhere.

"There are elements in the show where we try to engage the youngsters into the new areas and there are parts especially towards the end when we were performing in the Middle East which was really effective in the reconciliation of these two warring families" he explained.

Overall wherever one performs, making Shakespeare accessible to schoolchildren of all ages and all generations is hard, but this is very well achieved in this production. I sat with the schoolchildren in the audience and they were certainly drawn in by the story-telling through some delightful songs and the wonderful staging. Shakespeare 4 Kidz rise to the challenge of this ageless tale and they suceed with a very strong cast.

The kids on Tuesday at the first performance were captivated not just by this most famous love story and the long standing feud of the two families but by the energy and vitality of this production.

The John Mackintosh Hall stage was awash with numerous colour changes depicting the tenderness of the love at first sight encounter of Romeo and Juliet and the darker elements of the story. The big screen kept us in tune with the story and worked well as did the effective scene changes.

There are some fine performances in this production. I especially enjoyed Mercutio (Noel Andrew Harron) who immediately found friends in the audience. "Queen Mab" was a joy to watch as Mercutio, Benvolio (Bobby Windebank) and Romeo (Neil Toon) made a wonderful threesome. Romeo and Juliet (Sarah Gimblett) played well together and were certainly believable. I also enjoyed "I'm Juliet's Nurse" played by Nicola Delaney who presented us with some pretty "large" gestures and notes.

Overall this is a fun show for all the family and this year everyone has a chance of seeing Shakespeare 4 Kidz this Thursday at 8pm at the John Mackintosh Hall. Tickets are available at the door before the performance.