From the beginning, obstacles are placed in the way of the star-crossed lovers. Romeo is burdened with caring for his young daughter and his deadbeat mother, complicating his relationship with Julie, whose parents vehemently oppose their relationship. Julie falls pregnant and imagines the unborn child as the symbol of their love. She decides to keep the baby and forgo her long-cherished dream of attending Cambridge. Maybe, she thinks, she will enrol at the local university instead.

Shontane Farmer as Julie and Claudia Greenstone as Kath (photograph by Jodie Hutchinson)

Her father, who has ruined his health in the steelworks to fund her education, is appalled. When he realises she is serious, he expels her from the family home, apparently to give her a taste of what life is really like on the mean streets of Splott.

This is the second show presented by Red Stitch this year to feature a single father navigating the early years of parenthood, following Samuel Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God in April. This play lacks the depth and emotional complexity of Hunter’s play, but nonetheless has moments of real poignancy. The early scenes in which the teen dad – played by Damon Baudin – struggles with the enormity of the change in his life are particularly well done.

Nonetheless, the play’s focus soon shifts to Julie, while Romeo drifts toward the periphery.

Shontane Farmer delivers a vibrant performance as the ambitious swot who is used to being the cleverest person in the room; her strong presence brightens every scene. Her portrayal is helped by the pithy but always verisimilar banter between the young lovers. Although the play is long – longer than necessary – Farmer’s energy maintains momentum, drawing the audience along, propelling the story forward, even through its more protracted segments.

Ultimately, we are led down a well-worn path: a bright young thing, poised to escape a dead-end town, must have the courage to sever her closest ties and say goodbye. This certainly takes us in a different direction from Romeo and Juliet. And yet, there are many bittersweet moments that stir the emotions. The basic sentimentality of the play is enhanced with mournful snatches of piano, echoing the melancholy persistence of Cardiff’s endless rain; and the lights dim gradually at the close of each scene, as if it were always twilight. This is a production, in other words, that invites the audience to share in a mood of resignation.

The decision by director Kamarra Bell-Wykes to perform the play with broad Australian accents introduces a strange cross-current, given its distinctly urban Welsh setting. This choice is not necessarily disruptive, but it does create a certain ironic distance, as if the audience needed to be reminded that the actors are only pretending. The supporting cast is enthusiastic – and Belinda McClory as the dipsomaniac mother is particularly enjoyable – but are directed towards caricature, giving the play a sense of lightness that aligns with the plot’s familiarity and inherent artificiality.

The set, designed by Sophie Woodward, is all compression and confinement. Romeo’s bedsit is almost a broom closet. Even outdoor scenes suggest captivity, with the landscape represented by an image in a lightbox visible through a window at the rear of the stage. This set-up mimics a toy theatre or a sort of grimy dollhouse with constantly shifting walls. Of course, the message is clear: Splott is a kind of prison, while Cambridge – which happens to be Gary Owen’s alma mater – represents freedom and the world beyond.

Well, perhaps it’s not a prison, but no one in this play wants to live in Splott. Julie, with her incredible talent, has a chance that none of the other characters has. She’s a rare bird who just needs a little help to avoid what James Joyce described as the nets flung at it to hold it back from flight.

Romeo and Julie (Red Stitch) continues until 18 August 2024. Performance attended: 24 July.