Linz theatre gives Romeo and Juliet a playful, high-energy twist

The Landestheater Linz premiered a lively, witty take on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on Saturday, balancing the tragedy with light-footed comedy, ORF reported.

Directed by head of drama David Bösch, the production follows Romeo and his friends Mercutio and Benvolio as they sneak into a costume party hosted by the rival Capulet family. While his friends provoke Capulet’s guard Tybalt, Romeo falls in love with Juliet, the family’s daughter.

The familiar tragedy unfolds as the feud escalates: Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from the city. A plan by Friar Laurence to reunite the couple fails, and the story ends with both Romeo and Juliet taking their own lives.

Volker Hintermeier’s set has a timeless look, with a balcony that rises and falls alongside the young couple’s hopes. Bösch also breaks the fourth wall at points. A challenge to a duel is delivered via the prompter’s mobile phone, while a safety restriction on fencing on the wet stage turns into a comic moment when the actors are handed a mop instead.

Lukas Spinka makes his Landestheater debut as Romeo. Gemma Vannuzzi, in her first major leading role in the theatre, plays a forceful Juliet who resists her father’s plans for her marriage. Sebastian Hufschmidt plays her father, Capulet.