‘Romeo & Juliet’ Review: Tom Holland Disappoints in Return to the Stage But Another Star Is Born
'Romeo & Juliet' Theater Review: Tom Holland Disappoints in Return to the Stage But Another Star Is Born https://t.co/y5o4Bg9X6l
- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 26, 2024
Tom Holland is returning to the stage for the first time since Billy Elliot: The Musical.
One thing this production itself lacks is heat - romantic, dramatic, tragic heat. There is much to commend, but it suffers from a single, strategic mistake on the director’s part, to mute the action, quite literally, since much of it is played in whispers and mumbles; even miked, at times the actors are barely audible. The result is that this tale of violent family rivalry and courageous love has been denuded of its zest, danger and romance, urgency replaced by a pervading melancholy.
For the most part, Holland’s Romeo is a subdued, teary, vulnerable, underwhelming fellow; it’s hard to see why Juliet would go to such lengths for him. When the lad does explode to life - literally a couple of moments of shouty excitement - it feels forced. While Holland does get to show his puppy-like sweetness and buffed Spiderman physique, he surely has a better Romeo in him than this one.
In contrast, this deserves to be a star-making turn for Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who has triumphed over the torrent of online racial abuse she received when cast. The actress is magnificent, her Juliet the spiky, self-aware, fiercely independent pulse of the production. Amewudah-Rivers always manages to rise above, with a decibel more emotion, whether quarrelsomeness or spleen or playfulness. Her Juliet totally commands Romeo, while scenes between Juliet and her father are brutal and compelling.
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