Venus and Adonis review – Youngsters’ ingenious take on Bard poem in Warwick

Playbox’s Shakespeare Young Company brought the Bard’s Venus and Adonis to life using various artistic interpretations of the sonnet to deliver a unique, ingenious and thoroughly entertaining performance.

Using theatre in-the-round, the cast under Stewart McGill’s curatorship set the words to music, drama and dance. Venus, who was played by different actors at different times, is thwarted when her love for Adonis is unrequited. He is likewise played by different actors at various times, thus allowing several of this large cast of 29 to have opportunities to lead. Inevitably the story ends in tears but the audience are treated to a magical journey along the way.

Of particular note were the individual singing roles. Taya Ashley Timms opened with a solo that was perfectly in tune with a rock steady voice and good eye contact with the audience. Meera Palta gave an exquisite soprano operatic rendition and showed immense poise as she walked around the audience whilst performing. Both of them showed a maturity and confidence beyond their years.

Dance routines included an excellent pas de deux which clearly demonstrated balletic abilities and training, set to Fleetwood Mac. There were larger routines, in which the choreography complemented the dialogue and action between Venus and Adonis. The choreographed finale cleverly and quite rightly involved all the cast.

The Shakespearean language was difficult to follow, sometimes because it was theatre-in-the-round and sometimes because the young actors are still learning their craft including how to project their voices.

Set over ten scenes the performance showed the originality, creativity and skill of this group of young actors. This bodes well for the future of local theatre as hopefully some will stay in the area and will no doubt graduate on to well-known theatre companies locally.

Venus and Adonis ran from April 20 to 21. Visit playboxtheatre.com or call the box office on 01926 419555 for details of productions taking place in the coming months, including Miss Julie, Lord of the Flies, The Odyssey and The Addams Family