British Responses to Oh Tae-suk's Romeo and Juliet at the Barbican Centre

Abstract

The year, 2006, is very significant for the history of Korean Shakespeare, because Yang Jung-ung’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Oh Tae-suk's Romeo and Juliet were performed at the Barbican Centre, which is one of the most representative theatres in London. Yang’s MND received three stars (out of five) from two reviews by London media, which was the above average effect. Oh’s RJ was, however, rated variously between two stars and four stars from numerous and various media in London. Those complex responses from London reviewers seems to create confusion when the Barbican performance of Oh’s RJ is evaluated in Korea. Consequently, the London reviews of Oh's RJ must be reviewed more objectively and more extensively. Even though Oh’s RJ received two stars from The Times, it has achieved successful and impressive effects in various aspects. First, it succeeded in attracting English audiences’ attention; tickets were almost sold out three weeks before the opening day. Second, it succeeded in getting hot attention from London media and critics; not only five major newspapers such as The Times, The Independent, The Financial Times, The Evening Standard, The Observer, which belong to top 10 UK newspapers, but also many web media including The British Theatre Guide and personal blogs, reviewed Oh’s RJ at the Barbican Centre. Third, it succeeded in receiving good and positive responses widely among London critics; most reviewers, except Sam Marlowe, the reviewer of The Times, gave good or excellent points to Oh’s RJ. I gathered some Shakespeare specialists’s personal reviews as well as the medium reviews mentioned above so that I could acquire a more objective and wider source of information concerning the British responses to Oh’s RJ. Their reviews, which could be free from the medium readers, showed also positive responses about the production. Oh’s RJ at the Barbican Centre was not a perfect one. But it can be said that it made a successful debut in Shakespeare’s Kingdom, especially when we consider that Sam Marlowe’s harsh criticism about Oh’s RJ was largely due to the English subtitle which did not properly translate Oh’s Korean translation and caused some misunderstanding of the production.