Through November 6
Do not expect a gooey sentimental Romeo and Juliet. Director Sara Bruner has hewn the famous tale of woe into an impressive piece of theater. The pace is quick, but not too quick. The fights, the bawdy jests, the Tik-Tok tone — all vibrate around the two impulsive teens who form the heart of Romeo and Juliet. We feel sorry, but we also remember a bit of how foolish we were at that age.
But Bruner does not allow sentimentality; I suspect she never does (based on last season’s The Tempest). In sentiment’s place we have impressive physicality — from street fights (a stage full of brawlers with swords) to scaling walls (lovestruck Romeo’s main access to his love) to Juliet’s ecstatic dances (inspired by passion).
Dignity, civic order and politeness get short shrift from the opening scenes when young brawlers dash down the aisles ready to battle. When Mercutio (Stephen Michael Spencer) kills Tybalt (Joe Wegner) the deaths begin to stack up.
While the story pivots around the tragic love of Romeo (Benjamin Bonenfant) and Juliet (Ángela Utrera), there is a minimum of romantic love scenes. Their first meeting at the dance is brief and the newlyweds do not loll around in bed (either wedding or death) talking about love. This is not West Side Story.
This is not to say the acting is not strong — the lovers show devotion in few lines. Utrera’s Juliet is utterly convincing as an airhead. Bonenfant, a handsome Romeo, looks adult, but it is not difficult to see why Juliet falls for him instead of the parent-approved suitor — the wealthy, courtly Paris (Nick Steen). Paris does nothing for her soul. She craves adventure.
With the notable exception of the Prince (Alex Syiek), the adults do not seem mature in their behavior either. Juliet’s nurse, Kate Mulligan, who also falls for Romeo (and any man nearby), demonstrates her enthusiasm in often bawdy comic episodes. Even the bumbling Friar Laurence (Jeffrey King) with his schemes to “solve” everyone’s problems seems indulgent and childish. Friar John (Lynn Robert Berg) also fails to help them but at least he could blame the plague.
The Capulet and Montague families only care about status. Maggie Kettering as a strong Lady Capulet tries in vain to control her daughter. (Her husband never enters the scene, so she gets all the good lines.) Lord Montague (Aled Davies) and Lady Montague (Jessie Cope Miller) are also too embroiled in politics to help stop the violence.
The set, designed by Efren Delgadillo Jr, was a plain stack of white blocks and frames that neither enhanced nor distracted from the story played out. The costumes designed by Mieka van der Ploegwere also plain, but elegantly futuristic (as in Star Trek).
It was a fine production enhanced by often fast-moving ensemble members Danny Bó, Michael Burns, Aamar Malik Culbreth, Jaime Nebeker, Avery LaMar Pope, J. T. Snow, M. A. Taylor, Mike Binderman, Avery Elledge, Richard Morgan, Dan Rice and Hanako Walrath.
An impressive production. And alas, timely. The brawls, the “I bite my thumb to you sirs,” the subsequent mayhem, all mimic the violence making the news today. All seem convinced of the invincibility of their own perspective; the only conclusion seems to be that little has changed since Shakespeare’s era.
Bottom Line: Director Bruner’s version of Romeo and Juliet’s Great Adventure was Never Boring—even when we all knew it would end badly. Hope springs eternal, I guess. Go see it.