Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad at Riverside Studios

Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad at Riverside Studios

28 June, 2012
by: Ricky PS

A great idea that is not only poorly executed but wrings the brilliance out of the original. 

Shakespeare’s Collected Works are not sacred texts, so there’s no problem changing them. This is because, not despite, the fact that plays like Romeo and Juliet contain such glorious eroticism, thoughtful philosophy and glittering language. Indeed that tragedy, like its heroine, ‘hangs upon the cheek of night/ Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear;/ Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.’ But rather than engage with these gems, Iraqi writer-director Monadhil Daood’s Arabic script simply follows the plot, minus its most emotionally puncturing moments.

Normally, Juliet is sexually mature and highly assertive, and that’s why she marries Romeo against her father’s wishes. But perhaps Iraqi mores do not allow a young woman to demand: ‘Come, civil night... And learn me how to lose a winning match/ Play’d for a pair of stainless maidenhoods’. Similarly, the lovers generally kill themselves due to a misunderstanding, and that’s one reason why it’s so sad. But in this production they are blown up by a fundamentalist. Maybe suicide is something young burghers of Baghdad are not supposed to do? There are always excuses, but this adaptation has wrung the brilliance out of its original. The only great scene—a surreal interlude in which the warring families’ elders cry out their fears while dressed as hospital patients—is the one liberated from Shakespeare's plot.

Admittedly, I cannot tell you if the words are any good, since my Arabic is below “ordering a nargila” level. The acting certainly seemed poor, but that isn’t necessarily any easier to judge. This is melodrama, reminiscent of Arab TV’s legendary epic soaps, and any stylised form of performance can fail to translate across cultures. However, performers who did conform to my idea of good acting included Fawzia Arif, whose Lady Montague somehow projected steely manipulativeness and maternal warmth in the same grimacing leer; Hasanain Salam, terrifying as a vicious Tybalt but unfortunately forced to give a preposterous apology for his meanness; and Fikrat Salim, whose bumptious Mercutio is fairly one-note, but very entertaining.

Every failing in this production serves a single successful change: Romeo is Shia, Juliet is Sunni. Theirs is the conflict tearing our world apart. This re-setting is a great idea, but it does not require scrapping the script, and it cannot justify reducing Shakespeare to a label unrelated to the product. The National Theatre of Iraq would have been better off creating something entirely new, but no doubt they were obliged to undertake this kind of branding exercise in order to access the RSC’s stage and bank account. We should sympathise, but the execution remains bad.


Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad, part of LIFT and World Shakespeare Festival, runs at Riverside Studios until 30th June.  


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Ricky PS