Romanoff and Juliet

Peter Ustinov is the creative genius behind Romanoff And Juliet which from what I can see doesn't borrow too much from the Bard other than a title and a boy and girl from opposing clans falling in love. The rest is original Ustinov.

Written by him the play has only one set, the village square of the capital of Concordia, smallest country in Europe, on the order of Lichtenstein or San Marino. They've been forgotten by the rest of the world until the big powers need their vote in the UN.

A love offensive is what Ustinov launches trying to get together the son of the Russian ambassador and the daughter of the American ambassador hitched. As the Captain and Tenille sang, 'love can bring us together'.

Some nice barbs about the Cold War and some of the absurdities of the times flavor the script. One could get a lesson in the period from this work.

Romanoff And Juliet ran first on the London stage and then for 389 performances during 1957-58 on Broadway. Of course Ustinov appeared on stage as well.

Some criticize Sandra Dee for being cast. It's obvious it is done for box office and Dee has little to do but be pretty.

She's pretty good at that and Romanoff And Juliet is still fresh as it was in the 50s.