Every one of us in the audience knew how it ended, of course. Apart from anything else Shakespeare told us in the Prologue. But when the Queen (Prince Escalus in the original) ended the performance with,

‘For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.‘

there was no woe at all evident among the audience. On the contrary: along with the enthusiastic clapping were whoops and cheers. After a couple of minutes, Juliet (Hafeja Khanam) slightly opened the door behind the altar, probably to lead the cast out for a well-deserved second curtain call, then closed it again quickly when she saw that people were getting up and putting their wet coats back on, but just unable to stop their animated conversations.

I would guess that most of the young audience were there because they’ve been studying the play and the 25 or so 11-year-olds on a primary school trip were clearly loving watching familiar scenes unfold in front of them. The actors were mostly loving bringing it to life for them too, especially Mercutio (Billy Morton) whose laddish innuendo was pitched just right to set them giggling.

When, on occasion, the actors broke the fourth wall it was very effective and there was a delightful moment during the window scene when Romeo (Cyd Cowley) addressed his aside, ’Shall I hear more or shall I speak at this?’ to one of the youngsters who immediately replied, ‘Hear more, hear more.’ Right answer. His teacher deserved to feel proud.

The production would have benefited from more of this; there were some longueurs where the actors were talking to each other almost inaudibly with their backs to the audience (though it takes very skilled stagecraft for this not to happen when the audience is on three sides of the stage area). Just because the characters laugh at something we haven’t heard doesn’t mean we’ve been let into the joke.

But the technical challenges to actors of voice production became very clear when heavy rain after the interval interrupted the performance half way through Act 3 and we all decamped to the Baptist Church. It must be hard to switch mid-performance from trying to project a voice that was disappearing into the open air to needing to slow down because sounds are bouncing off the church walls. All credit to the actors for managing that transition as well as they did, and for replaying the end of scene 4 to remind us where we were.

All the acting was high quality. Tybalt (Craig Finlay)‘s adolescent rage, Paris (Jordan Bisché)‘s sullenness and Romeo’s unreliable passions were infuriatingly recognisable. Mary Stuck carried off two very different characters: the Queen, whose authority commanded respect and the endearing but weak Nurse. The scene where Capulet (Chris Walters)’s fury confronted Juliet’s rebellion was also charged and compelling.

Probably the least accomplished part of the production was the music which didn’t seem to know which era it wanted to belong to. There was more 1930-40s popular music than any other genre but the opening fight was set to opera, Benvolio (Grace Olusola) ended the first half with a version of what I believe was Sylvia Robinson’s ‘Sunday’ and although the little bit of plainchant was presumably to let us know that we were now in Friar Lawrence (Craig Finlay)’s cell, it jarred. It didn’t help that the fade slider appeared not to be working so beginnings and ends were very abrupt.

But ultimately this was a local production done with passion and commitment for local people and it showed. As the actors walked back from the church to Oxford Castle, audience members in the street thanked them. ‘Thank you,’ was the reply. Heart-warming.

Earlier this week I made my way to Oxford Castle and Prison, to watch Wild Goose Theatre’s open-air production of Romeo and Juliet. As I settled in, I was offered a fleece blanket, a lovely touch that became very appreciated as the breeze picked up and the night slowly descended.

I find open-air productions can feel a bit sparse, but that was not the case here - the little details were all clearly carefully chosen and the very old stone walls and towers made an atmospheric backdrop to the tale. The costumes, which seemed influenced by a 1920s sensibility, were also transporting.

The play begins with a brawl before introducing us to Romeo and his best mates, Mercutio and Benvolio. Cyd Cowley’s performance as Romeo starts with him as a doe-eyed, slightly melodramatic romantic. Both the character and Cowley’s performance grew in strength and depth over the course of the night as Romeo grappled with heavier and heavier emotions.

Nathan Golo’s Mercutio was mesmerizing to see, a brash, saucy live-wire performance that stole every scene he was in, while Billy Morton’s Benvolio balanced this out with a sincere and grounding performance. The scenes with the three men highlighted both exactly how funny Shakespeare’s dialogue can be and also the laddish camaraderie between the three.

Hafeja Khanam’s Juliet was sweet and ethereal. I found myself wishing at times more of the humour and character had been teased out of Juliet’s lines, her character occasionally felt a bit blank compared to Romeo and others in the play. However, the chemistry between her and Cowley felt giddy, delicate - positively teenage - which did wonders to sell their whirlwind romance, always a necessity for this production.

Edward Smith as Tybalt gave the role an effectively preppy smugness, but the fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt felt oddly rushed and chose to have Mercutio die off stage, which felt like a missed opportunity to fully wring out the scene’s pathos.

Throughout, the music is beautifully chosen and does much to enrich the emotion of the story. Brief interludes of singing from Layla Katib and Craig Finley, who also played The Nurse/Queen Escala and Friar Lawrence respectively, might have felt indulgent in another production, but here was another thoughtful addition of texture.

The larger cast had some standout performances as well. David Guthrie, who recently shone in Torch Theatre’s production of Queers, stole the show with four smaller parts, infusing each with a wholly different energy. And Lord Capulet infused his character with enough power and venom to make you instantly understand why this long-running feud just hasn’t been able to end.

Ultimately, what brought this production together was both the compelling central romance and equally the wisdom not to focus too strongly on it. Wild Goose’s view remains that of a bird’s eye, deftly highlighting the tragedy in the needless deaths of yes, our two leads but also many others in this violent, petty, macho struggle between two households. The night I attended the play, the audience was overwhelmingly composed of school groups who appeared to be completely captivated. Student or not, this ornate, rich and well-paced production offers a beautiful incarnation of Shakespeare’s classic.