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Jill Hipson, a member of the National Association of Deafened People (NADP), reviews the STAGETEXT captioned performance of Juliet and Her Romeo at Bristol Old Vic. This article first appeared in NADP’s magazine, Network.
Have NADP set the record for the number of deafened people in a theatre at any one time? I ask because the STAGETEXT captioned performance of Juliet and her Romeo attracted at least 40 deafened people, 20 of whom were NADP members, plus hearing family members and even a few Hearing Concern LINK members.
People came from all over the UK – Liverpool, Huddersfield, Cardiff, and Hertfordshire. We met for lunch in the theatre café beforehand and it was great to see so many familiar faces. What was special about this particular play is that Tim Barlow, the deafened actor who plays such a large part in NADP’s email group, was in the play.
Tim has always been a fascinating source of anecdotes about his working life and the people he meets as an actor. A few years ago we were all spellbound by his descriptions of making a film in Namibia and the endlessly funny things that happened to him, mainly to do with his speech to text support, the unexpectedly cold weather, and his make-up! He was very anti-cochlear implant when he joined the e-group but he has had an implant after reading about other group members’ CI experiences, and it has been a life-changing experience for him. The special thing about the e-group is that it is a very supportive place for its members, and usually the only problem is the high volume of email messages.
Care home setting
Nearly everyone is familiar with the play Romeo and Juliet. However, this performance of Shakespeare’s play was a very unusual production because the star-crossed lovers and their brawling peers were in their mid 80s and residents in a care home rather than being teenagers. The adults who so spectacularly put a spoke in Romeo and Juliet’s romance had been turned into Juliet’s adult daughter, who was worried about her mother’s care home fees eating up all her inheritance, and the care home doctor. The Nurse, a much-loved and larger than life character in the play, became Juliet’s carer rather than a children’s nanny. Tim was playing Tybalt and a very belligerent character he made the part, too. He specialises in brooding, grim and gloomy personalities although in real life he’s much jollier and more relaxed.
This generation swap in Juliet and Her Romeo works because the story of people meeting and falling deeply in love at the ends of their lives lends urgency and bitter-sweet realism to the play. The two lead characters obviously don’t have much time left. I can never watch a ‘traditional’ version of the play without thinking that teenage love tends to be something you grow out of, no matter how intense and consuming it feels at the time. The elderly lovers will never have time to get bored with each other.
The production did feel slightly strained at times, mainly because Capulet’s lines had been given to the care home doctor, who couldn’t possibly have such a great interest in making sure his patient stayed on, even if she was profitable! Also I couldn’t see how Juliet’s daughter could be trying to marry her own octogenarian mother off to a rich man. But the device of making the Capulets the rich and privileged inhabitants of the care home, whereas the Montagues are scruffy and receiving bargain basement care, was a stroke of genius. Tybalt is a massive snob and doesn’t like it when the Montagues gate-crash the Capulets’ private party in their posh wing.
Care of the elderly
The production has raised important issues about quality of life for older people who are nearing the end of their lives, and Joan Bakewell had visited to film it for a special edition of Panorama about care of the elderly. The elderly inhabitants of the care home did need extra looking after but what really struck me was that they weren’t sitting in death’s waiting room like a scattering of semi-comatose idiots. On the contrary, they were carrying on with their lives as they always had, with the Montague group making jokes, gate-crashing parties and getting up to mischief. Age hadn’t blunted their emotional capacity: Tybalt’s anger is proof of that and so is Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other. The cheerless, institutional décor of the home and its money-making ethos (as expressed by the Doctor) seemed at odds with the very alive ‘patients’. Should we be treating elderly people as profit-generating units to be looked after in a place where the emphasis is on providing the bare minimum rather than comfort or even an enjoyable life? Even Juliet’s superior care looks Spartan with a nasty hospital bed and very little in the way of furnishings to make her feel at home. No doubt the ripples caused by this particular stone will go on for some time.
Post-show get-together
After the matinee finished, a group of NADP members carried on the occasion at Renato’s, which is a very popular place for the entire cast of the play. We drank wine and ate and chatted and laughed. It was a great way to round off the occasion.
See also ‘Deaf fans flock to Bristol Old Vic’
Article First Published: 14/06/2010
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