MERCUTIO has been voted the North East’s favourite Shakespeare character in what is being seen as a triumph for young voters.
On Shakespeare’s birthday today, it can be announced that Romeo’s ill- fated friend from the play Romeo and Juliet crossed the line just 40 votes ahead of Hamlet in a vote launched in The Journal last September.
“It’s the live-fast, die-young thing,” declared Christine Chapman, the English teacher and Shakespeare expert who has written about all 38 plays in The Journal over the past seven months.
“Young people have been very enthusiastic about this competition and I reckon this is due to their influence.”
Mercutio – while not a household name like the “star cross’d lovers” immortalised in the title of the play – is nonetheless lively, devil-may-care, a joker and a free spirit.
He is not a member of either of the warring families of Montague and Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, and cries, after being fatally stabbed by Tybalt: “A curse o’ both your houses.”
Richard Berg-Rust, director of development at the Theatre Royal, said of Mercutio: “His appearance is relatively brief but he manages to capture our attention utterly with his sparkling wit and otherworldly outlook.”
He compared him with other icons who had died before their time, such as the poet Shelley and the film stars James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.
Both he and Christine attributed a large proportion of Mercutio’s votes to a fine performance in the role by actor Jonjo O’Neill in an RSC production which ran at the Theatre Royal in the autumn.
O’Neill, as Mercutio, evidently became a bit of a heartthrob among young theatre-goers.
“This superb production and brilliant performance will have certainly influenced the vote,” declared Mr Berg-Rust.
In third place in the competition came Puck while Lady Macbeth and Bottom were united in joint fourth place ahead of Juliet, Romeo, Prospero, Iago and Beatrice. Nearly 2,000 votes were cast in the competition which was launched by the Theatre Royal in association with The Journal.
The character of Mercutio will now be sculpted and cast in bronze, funded by Ramy and Marilyn Zack, owners of the Biscuit Factory art gallery in Newcastle.
The unique and prestigious commission will be advertised and a selection panel will choose the artist to do the job.
Brian Aitken, editor of The Journal, said: “We are passionate about theatre and the arts and supporting this campaign has been a great journey.
“It has really excited our readers’ imaginations and we are delighted that such an interesting character has been chosen for the sculpture.”
The sculpture will be unveiled on this date next year, the 175th anniversary of the Theatre Royal which is currently closed for major refurbishment.
In a parallel competition to find the North East’s favourite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream narrowly beat Romeo and Juliet. After that came Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Othello, Richard III and Henry V.
