Feature: Romeo and Juliet
May 11 2015, 11:02am
Run of the Mill is a theatre group based in Dublin. On May 5th, they held a production of Romeo and Juliet to an eager crowd at the Pavillion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire.
This was no ordinary rendition, rather a specially devised performance of Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and loss viewed through the prism of disability in 21st Century Ireland.
Director Charlotte Tiernan said they first began the rehearsal process using a series of frozen images from the play, as opposed to a script. Using these images, they discussed themes in the play, including subjects such as suicide, anger and lack of choice.
From the images, they then began to use movement to create short scenes, and finally some lines were added.
The actors spent over a year working on the play, building upon it every week and working through themes and discussing and examining the play from new perspectives, not simply just learning lines and performing for the sake of it.
The interesting thing about Run of the Mill is that the 12 cast members are all adults with an intellectual disability attending services at St John of God, Carmona.