The Generation Gap

Went to the Bristol Old Vic last night and saw Tom Morris's "Juliet and her Romeo"

What's that line from Saint-Just, something about "Those who make revolution by halves only dig their own graves."

What the hell am I talking about?

I am talking about the production. The gimmick was that Romeo and Juliet - and Tybalt and Mercutio etc.- are all in old folk's homes. Instead of the inter-generational conflict being the middle-aged versus the young, it's the middle-aged versus the old.

But for that to work, surely R and J and T and M and t'others would have to be in their second childhood- you know, going all Lear-y. They'd have to be so soft in the head that their children would be seeking power of attorney etc etc. But then there would be the problem- how are they then supposed to do the long soliloquies and the word play and all the rest of it if they are gaga. And why would the Nurse and the Friar humour them?

I'm afraid "doing R and J as pensioners" is one of those ideas that you get- stunt casting and all- that seems great after a couple of beers, but when you wake up the following day realise should be left on the drawing board, UNLESS you are going to do a major revision and rewrite, which will offend the purists. Generally, you're not allowed to do mash-up on Shakespeare's words, Creative Commons 3.0 notwithstanding.

So, neither fish nor fowl, and not tragic in the least.

What's my learning? That I really really don't like Romeo and Juliet, mashed, minced or pureed. The Baz Luhrman movie is fine, but other than that, yecch..