ROMEO AND JUDE

Wonderful performances pepper this intriguing contemporary twist on ROMEO AND JULIET. The story moves directly into the chaos of an amateur theater company that is preparing to present the star-crossed lovers to a local, unsophisticated audience. Miranda, a revered but razor-tongued director, casts working-class Ray, an aspiring actor, as Romeo. Much to Ray’s discomfort, she casts Jude, the producer’s handsome young son, as Juliet—in keeping with the Elizabethan practice of all-male casts. The full cast delivers Shakespeare’s words and emotions as convincingly as they deliver their off-stage personae. As the actors rehearse the play-within-the-play-within-the-audiobook, Ray and Jude begin their inevitable affair. Fight scenes and large crowd scenes are often noisy and confusing in this production; however, in the smaller, more intimate scenes, both plot and characters come alive. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2016]