Romeo and Juliet

The Helix, DCU Until Feb 8 1pm 8pm (no evening show Fri, no shows Sat Sun) €25/€22 thehelix.ie

Romeo and Juliet is clearly a tragedy about two young lovers thwarted by entrenched social hatred. But it is also Shakespeare’s profoundly clever riff on identity crisis; a play that abounds with masks, deceptions, riddles and word games.

What’s in a name, wonders Juliet, as she considers switching her own, Romeo’s or even that of a rose. Second Age’s new production of the play takes the idea further by dividing the play’s 20 or so parts between just six performers. Now, everyone can be someone else.

Director Conor Hanratty invites some sly associations through this method. Megan Riordan, for instance, plays Juliet and Tybalt, both Romeo’s lover and his would-be killer.

Aimed at a school audiences, though, the production doesn’t push that inventive potential too hard – all the quick costume changes are kept out of view – and though there are modest contemporary embellishments, its approach feels closer to faithful classicism. As a result, Second Age’s limpid treatment of the text rings clear as a bell, but rarely generates sparks. It may reveals plenty within the play, but for a tale of such passion, continually redefined by each generation, it seems like a loss.

That, however, is the lesson of Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy: for all their talk of change, they can’t create themselves anew.

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Focal Point Project Arts Centre, Dublin