A Tender Thing- review

 A Tender Thing is a play written by Ben Power, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  In this adaptation, the two characters (Kathryn Hunter as Juliet and Richard McCabe as Romeo) are an old couple in their golden years. Juliet then is faced with a serious disease that tests their love and climaxes with the death of both. The stage was relatively small in this theatre compared to The Tempest, however it succeeded to create a more intimate relationship with the audience.  There was also a cyclorama in the middle of the stage, used to project images of their youth and of their deceased child. It also facilitated the mood swings of the play, since its color and intensity changed accordingly. The set and props were minimalistic and all the elements of the play were contemporary to our time, except for the language. The lighting was cleverly used to suggest the passing of time and the dramatic intensity of the scenes. Since there were only two characters, the lighting focused (in dramatically heavy moments) in a specific place on stage where the two characters were close together, not letting the audience look away from what was actually happening. This was much more stressful for the audience because it presented no possible escape form the harsh reality that many people could relate to, and this was what essentially captivated most member of the audience. The sound also had a strong influence in the audience. The minor scales and melodies used in intensively dramatic moments helped to bring the general mood down and were sometimes responsible for many tears of the audience. In lighter moments, the music was joyful and this generally happened whenever Romeo was addressing the audience pre-disease. Both performances were highly believable and successfully went from extreme happiness to extreme despair in a “natural” way. Kathryn Hunter’s physical performance was very effective on transmitting the psychological condition of Juliet to the audience, which was challenging since most of her performance occurred either on a wheel chair, or lying down on a hospital bed. Richard McCabe's performance was also very well achieved, and I do believe his portrait of a joyful and likable old man was very convincing, even in heavily dramatic moments. Overall, it ended up being very much above expectations and proved that great tragic moments can be achieved with very few props and characters (but good luck finding actors of this caliber).