It takes you by surprise when the characters in this modern-day Shakespearean rock-opera open their mouths for the first time - rap comes out.
It's unsettling at first, as is the trashy Kiwi caravan park setting, but quickly you're dragged into this highly original take on the bard's classic tale, with Shakespeare's more-than 400-year-old words delivered in songs with styles ranging from rock and pop to hip-hop, gospel and sweet ballads.
There's energy and a sense of humour to this adaptation, which Michael O'Neill and Peter van der Fluit began writing in 2004. In 2010 Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's ArtsEd, a leading London performance academy, performed the stage musical version, and in 2011 filming began on the film version at Auckland's Waipu Cove, directed by music video veteran Tim van Dammen.
The caravan park is an unusual and clever setting, we can giggle at the overflowing ashtrays, caravan interiors and copious crates of beer, but it's an ideal location for teenage romance, warring families, sudden bursts of violence and odd characters doing odd things. Mostly because there's nothing else going on. The casting is superb, with new and interesting faces as well as a few you may recognise in their caravan park get-ups - just. Newcomers Christopher Landon and Derya Parlak do a stellar job as Romeo and Juliet, but the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets provides plenty of moments for other players.
Cameron Rhodes as campground manager Prince invites us into the story with a hilarious and over-the-top performance, reassuring us it's okay to have a laugh, and that there will be plenty of time for tragedy.
