Everyone that knows me, knows I love Cardiff Castle, it’s an amazing place to go and walk around or just to chill out in the middle of the city. And the summer is when it’s at it’s best, obviously the weather helps, but mostly it’s the astonishing array of amazing events they put on!
A few weeks ago it was the Joust, which I stole and turned into my birthday celebration 🙂 and this weekend it was Romeo and Juliet by the Lord Chamberlains Men. Both events were fantastic and with both I’ve gone before and will go again.
The Lord Chamberlains Men are a travelling troupe of actors; all men, that put on Shakespeare productions across the country, unaided by microphones and with a very bare bones set, and they are absolutely fantastic. The voice projection alone is impressive, and they really bring the plays alive, I wish I could have seen this version of Romeo and Juliet when I was back in school.
This is my second year to see them play at the castle, last year it was As You Like It, and I know from friends they have performed Macbeth and A Midsummer Nights Dream before. While I enjoyed As you Like it, I did enjoy this years Romeo and Juliet a lot more, partly because I am more familiar with the story but also because there was no cross dressing within the play, which made it a lot easier to follow. Since the entire cast is male, the female characters are men in dresses, as it would have been in Elizabethan times, which can get a little confusing when the female character is dressed as a man so that you have a man dressed as a woman dressed as a man! That and the Pimms meant that most of the people I was with last year didn’t really follow the story.
No such problem this year though 🙂 just a thoroughly enjoyable evening watching an excellent show with family and friends.
