I feel there is a great deal of truth in the recent review of Romeo & Juliet. As a Rep production I was particularly impressed by the play as a whole, but the very fact that this praise needs to be qualified unearths some obvious flaws.

The set was tremendous, subtly suggesting the decay of Verona, but your reviewer's criticism of the ubiquitously boring bed is entirely accurate.

One area in which I would respectfully like to disagree with Mr Scott's review, is in his praise of Robert Patterson. To a senior actor the part of Capulet is a gift. In this performance it was an opportunity squandered. Not at any stage was I convinced of the stature of Capulet, nor of any other trait which would render him a true and rounded character. Patterson's belief that Shakespeare's poetry alone would be sufficient to convince everyone of his role was woefully transparent; especially since he neglected, at any stage, to employ the use of the verse.

3/5

Steven Bews, Dundee,

The day after watching (and enjoying) this production of Romeo & Juliet, what is still fresh in my mind is the disjointed set - a true work of art in itself- and the pure human emotion that flowed from the actors performances.

The angular furniture along with the broken and weed tangled black & white tiles was the perfect backdrop for this story - and the way the four poster bed and grey staircase was incorparated into the action of the play was not distracting at all.

I was extremely surprised to see such a high quality production of the play without having too travel far from our merry city.

On the topic of Lord of the Rings resemblance, I couldn't help but notice Sir Ian Mckellen's superb performance as the Friar, it gave the play a delightful edg

Michael, Dundee,

Do not be put off by this review, I had an intensely enjoyable evening at Dundee Rep watching this production. For me, Baz Luhrmann's "car crash" film induced longeurs, whereas this production kept my attention throughout with many cast members giving good value for money: the Scottish-accented Nurse formed a tremendous bridge of warmth and humour with the audience; Mercutio dazzled as an articulate and dangerous Scottish yob of the "train spotter" generation; and even Juliet engaged with the fesityness of a central-belt teenager rather than a limp willowy nothingness of the maid in the Luhrmann film.

The drama worked on simple humans terms: these are people like us - and not historic types to which we cannot relate. The staging was ingenious yet simple, and did nothing to distract from the rightful pre-eminence of text.

One may argue that the mixed cast of English and Scottish players introduces a schism, and that Romeo looked rather too much like a hobbit, but so what..

David Johnston, Dundee,