eSqueeze, October 2003 TFT - ROMEO AND JULIET Tight Fit Theatre presents Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet at the Wycombe Swan Town Hall, High Wycombe from Wed 8 - Sat 11 October 2003 at 7.30 pm Tickets £10 (concessions £8) Tight Fit Theatre are back at the Wycombe Swan this month with a new production of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Artistic Director, Mark Oldknow, has assembled a diverse and, in some cases, a familiar cast to perform one of Shakespeare‘s most popular and endearing tragedies. Carla Quelch, Kirstie Austin and Hannah Birkin, familiar faces in the Tight Fit Theatre rogues‘ gallery, are joined by Finnian O‘Neill, Simeon Willis, Nathan Clough and Ivanhoe Norona, all new faces to the company. Ivanhoe Norona may be familiar to some from his work with Wildcard Theatre Company - who along with Tight Fit are resident at the Wycombe Swan, The play charts the growing relationship between two young people born into opposite sides of a conflict between their respective families. Having met and fallen in love, they marry in secret and all would be well... or so it would seem. Romeo becomes involved in a street brawl where his close friend is murdered and, in revenge, he kills the murderer who happens to be Juliet‘s cousin. If that were not enough, her parents have decided that she should marry Paris, a relative of the Prince of Verona. It can only end in tragedy. ”This is my third production of Romeo and Juliet•, says Mark, ”and it astounds me how different actors will bring out extremely different characters from the same script. We are discovering new and exciting things in the script that are making the production fascinating.• Oldknow, never one to shy away from challenging his audience, promises no less in his current production. ”I firmly believe that theatre should engage an audience. This is often helped by putting the archaic into more contemporary surroundings, enabling the spectator to see the similarities in their own experience with those of the characters. We all fell in love when young,,, hopefully with less tragic consequences. I suspect it is the youthful exuberance of the two main characters in the first throws of passion that strikes a chord with audiences.• The production is set fairly timelessly and Verona is portrayed as an Orwellian state licking it‘s wounds from a bloody conflict. Within this totalitarian structure the two families are jockeying for position and favour with the Prince. ”We let the script do the work for us. Shakespeare‘s words are the foundations upon which we build and in this play they are are some of the finest to support us.• Renowned for its productions since 1996, Tight Fit Theatre is a professional theatre company resident at the Wycombe Swan. www.tightfittheatre.co.uk www.wycombeswan.co.uk