Romeo And Juliet Nurse Quotes

Alison Bomber’s direction of Romeo and Juliet is brilliantly exhilarating. Unwavering in its dedication to ensure that the audience was riveted to the characters onstage, this production of Romeo and Juliet will not be forgotten anytime soon. The passion, the impetuous romance, the inevitable tragedy – all wrapped in Shakespeare’s incandescent verse and heightened imagery – gains an immediacy under Bomber’s intimate approach to the tale of the most famous lovers in our western literature and drama.
Mandy Mitchell’s magnetic portrayal of the Nurse in this production definitely stole the show from the star crossed lovers Joe Kopyt and Kahla Tisdale. Mandy Mitchell played the often bawdy but at the same time motherly character with such tenacity

that she managed to inject a high level of infectious, vibrant energy in each scene she appears in. She had ultimate control over her voice projection and made herself heard without shouting. The audience had absolutely no trouble understanding the Nurse because Mitchell verse speaking is beautifully crisp and clear. She was very expressive and had enunciated each word clearly; infusing subtle emotion into her lines via voice inflections, the audience felt what her character had felt. Mandy Mitchell’s physicality helped aid the believability of her character; her robust figure is what I would have expected of Juliet’s affectionate handmaiden. Even though she was just a servant in the Capulet household, her relationship with Juliet was much more than just that and it resonated in Mitchell’s performance. She walks around the stage confidently in utter disregard of the admonishing looks Lady Capulet throws her way, but it helped in letting the audience understand the nature of her character. The Nurse’s goal was to protect Juliet from any harm and to give Juliet the happiness she deserves, and this was clear when she agreed to become the messenger between Romeo and Juliet. However, Mitchell had obstacles that she had to overcome as the Nurse – more prominently was her social position as a mere servant. She is not empowered to create change around her and ultimately relents to the whims of society. Her maternal instinct buoys her to aid Juliet in marrying Romeo, but when Lord Capulet becomes enraged, she decided to change her tactic and tries to reason with Juliet; she tells her that Paris is not such a bad choice after all now that Romeo is banished from the land.
Juliet and the Nurse’s relationship was very prominent in Alison Bomber’s Romeo and Juliet and ran through multiple scenes.

As the play went on, the more strained their relationship became. Tension filled the air as Juliet’s character grew from a quiet, obedient girl into a mature albeit emotionally charged young woman. The Nurse on the other hand was initially Juliet’s voice of reason – with Kahla Tisdale evoking a sense of dependency upon Mitchell’s character – but later on becoming the voice that Juliet opposes. Despite being a only a servant in the Capulet household, the Nurse has a role equivalent to that of Juliet's mother and regards Juliet as her own daughter. In the first scene where Juliet appears, Lady Capulet’s distant and cold delivery was juxtaposed with the Nurse’s more warm – albeit bawdy – response to the news of Paris’s proposal. Juliet was seen being closer with her handmaiden than her own mother, which she still regard with respect. Juliet’s goal was to be together with Romeo and she used the Nurse as her go-between because her budding romance with Romeo was a secret. The Nurse was more than willing to help Juliet but after Lord Capulet’s angry outburst at Juliet’s defiance to not accept Paris’s marriage proposal, the Nurse retreats quickly into submission and urges Juliet to forget Romeo. This scene pushed them apart as Juliet could not believe that the Nurse offered such a course of action after she helped bring the couple together. Tisdale and Mitchell

had chemistry onstage and was believable as Juliet and the Nurse respectively.
The lighting design by Joshua Poston enhanced the unit set, moving the action from indoors to outdoors, from scorching mid-day to a beautiful dusk elegantly.

Most notable was the scene where it changes to a romantic dawn, where Romeo had to leave to Mantua. As Tisdale and Kopyt were canoodling by the balcony, dawn came by through gradients and it felt as if time was stretched out, even though the – play up until that point – was fast paced. Another notable scene was when Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo had a confrontation with Tybalt. It was depicted as scorching mid-day, and Poston delivered in allowing the scene to depict the heat of the moment, which turned into the inevitable brawl and accidental execution of Mercutio. The lighting design helped intensify Zack Meyer’s depiction of the egoistic Mercutio – the epitome of the traditional masculine aggression. The haunting scene where Juliet was alone in her room, contemplating drinking the deathly potion, Poston made the scene come to life with plays on shadows and a blue hued lighting design. As Tisdale imagines the gruesome reality of facing one’s own mortality, and laments on her situation, her performance was amplified by the stark contrast of her white dress against a lighting backdrop that played around with light and dark elements of the

play.
Bomber’s vision to bring this classic Shakespeare to life was worthwhile. The language and the verses that was spoken, resonates with everyone – regardless if they are familiar with the Bard’s work or not. Bomber’s attention to detail could not be denied as even the spoken words were dripping with emotion. The production team did a splendid job at bringing this beloved love tragedy to life.