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| Elvy Yost and Grantham Coleman in Romeo and Juliet at Actors Theatre. Photo by Alan Simons. |
Romeo and
Juliet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tony Speciale
Reviewed by Rachel White
Entire
contents are copyright © 2012 Rachel White. All rights reserved.
It is a familiar scene. A late night party, everyone is having a good time, the music
is loud, and people are laughing. Then, there is that moment where
everyone slowly realizes that something has gone terribly wrong. A fight has broken out, or someone has
had too much to drink. Slowly
everyone turns. Someone takes out
their cellphone to document the event. Sirens sound. This is the
feeling I was left with after this dark, passionate and stylized production of Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet. Things are
happening, it’s funny, it's fast, it’s a little raw, everyone is dancing, it’s
sexy, and then things start to get dark.
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| Grantham Coleman and Jordan Dean in Romeo and Juliet at Actors Theatre. Photo by Alan Simons. |
Tony Speciale’s take on Romeo and Juliet is fresh,
timely, and it moves like a thriller. The play opens on a pool side in a new-age style mansion similar to a modern Beverly Hills. Two girls in bikinis holding cellphones remind us to
turn ours off. There is a pool, a
real pool, that the characters swim in. It’s the home of the Capulets – wealthy socialites of Verona. The
setting is bright, shiny and a little plastic.
We meet Romeo (Grantham Coleman), a young romantic,
who broods around with a backpack slung over his shoulder. The Romeo of this production is sweet
and boyish at first and then turns absolutely ill with love and grief by the
end. He sees Juliet, of course, and the connection is
instant. Juliet is played by Elvy
Yost as smart, fierce and a little enigmatic. The relationship quickly begins to feel like a chemical
addiction more than a sweet romance. The two are desperate for one another, from Juliet furiously
demanding her sleeping potion from Friar Lawrence (Brendan Averett), to Romeo
lying banished on the floor of the friar’s cell writhing in emotional agony. These characters feel like real
teenagers – naïve, without perspective, and in love.
As the lovers spiral downward, Speciale shifts
seamlessly from the humorous lightness of house parties to the dark reality of
what lives beyond clean mansion walls and pool sides. He does this through performance as well as lighting and
costume. Romeo comes upon the apothecary who wears
a beany and scratches himself. He
says, “I pay your poverty,” and the word poverty comes alive. Lord Capulet (Bruce McKenzie) becomes abusive and tyrannical towards
his daughter and to her nurse (Myra Lucretia Taylor). snarling at her, “Peace, you
mumbling fool.” You find yourself shocked that these people talk to one another
so viciously. But the actors are skillful enough to take the characters to
these extreme emotional states. Lines that may have been thrown away in other productions are used as
finely tuned weapons in this one.
In terms of the production, Speciale uses movement and
music in the piece to a wonderful theatrical effect. The fight scenes between
the warring families of Capulets and Montagues are precisely
choreographed. The characters draw
knives and slice at each other. The use of slow motion and video highlight the tension of these fights,
which may otherwise feel showy or clunky. In one scene, the prince
enters and fires a gun, and the whole brawling group hits the floor in one
graceful motion. These
choreographed moments add to the tension and the theatricality of the event and
never detract from it. Speciale
wisely tones down these effects during the love scenes between Romeo and Juliet, which are beautiful, slow and simple. The stillness is a nice contrast to the opulent loud parties and
violence.
There were times during the play when I had to
catch up to the language – when what was going on in the text disconnected
slightly from what was going on up on stage. This will happen in a modernized production. But the truths
in the play are there, and the story is told fully. Nothing about the production feels indulgent for its
own sake, but all is purposeful and precise. I came out of the theater a little exhausted but feeling as
though I had seen Romeo and Juliet for the first time. What a crazy play, and what bizarre
people. The director skillfully
smoothes over any disconnects and makes the play hum with new life.
September 4 – September 26, 2012
Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
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