Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

Romeo and Juliet feat. Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad

If you asked me about Romeo and Juliet prior to this summer, I would have told you all that I know about it: the play is by Shakespeare and I haven’t looked at it or thought about it since 9th grade when I read it for English class. But now, nearing the end of the summer, I have tons more to say! For one thing, I worked run-crew at Flushing Town Hall for Ralph Carhart’s Queens College production of the play. I interacted with the actors, the people back stage, and the audience throughout my week-long experience. Many of the lines, repeated over and over through rehearsals, got stuck in my head. I was so very used to the way the actors portrayed their characters, how Romeo (Thomas Stagnitta) was so gloomy and love struck, how the nurse (Nikki Daddiego) was impossibly funny with her accent and mannerisms (in this production, the Montagues and Capulets were distinguished by being Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims respectively). This all changed when I went to see Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, featuring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad (a racial take on the star-crossed lovers).

There is absolutely no need for a synopsis of the play. Even those who have never seen a production of it have seen an adaptation of some sort – West Side Story being a popular one. Any tale of two lovers from feuding families or social circles originates from R and J! But how did this production, directed by David Leveaux, differ from all of these other adaptations? Let’s find out!

For me, the setting was a bit ambiguous. The staging was very interesting, as the main backdrop seemed to be an early Italian fresco of people praying. On top of the fresco were graffitied hearts, surrounding names of couples, lovers, and friends. Exposed piping occasionally lit up in flames, adding ambient lighting, but also a quite fierce and violent, almost tragic, aura to the stage. Not only was the location undecipherable, but also the time period. Most of the costumes worn by the men were absolutely modern – blue jeans, hoodies, boots, and the like. Romeo (Orlando) even drove a motorcycle! But the women, on the other hand, often wore dresses hinting at an older time – long dresses with shawls often covering their hair. But for me, this uncertainty, vagueness, and enigmatic nature of the setting didn’t hinder my understanding of the play. If anything, I believe director Leveaux, in collaboration with Jesse Poleshuck (scenic design) and Fabio Toblini (costume), was going for a more abstract, expressionist and emotional production – one not necessarily grounded in everyday reality. The mixing of the old and the new enhances and exaggerates the timelessness of the love story. The fire and the dramatic music (David van Tieghem) emphasized the tragic nature of the play. Until the famous end, the play is filled with humor – especially from Nurse (Jayne Houdyshell) and Mercutio (Christian Camargo). The music reminded the audience that the end was near and inevitable – death was looming!

Though Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad were the featured actors of this performance, their names adorning the outside of the theatre, I was more engaged by the Nurse and Mercutio. I often find that my favorite characters in plays tend to be the people on the outskirts – those who have a prominent role, but not the role. In Romeo and Juliet, these parts were filled by Juliet’s prime-confidant and Romeo’s friend. Both actors brought Shakespeare alive, really emphasizing his language! If it weren’t for my learning in high school that Shakespeare includes tons of humor, it would have been difficult for me to pick up on those lines. But with Christian and Jayne, the humor reached the masses (something that I believe Shakespeare most certainly intended in his plays). Camargo’s thrusting hips and Houdyshell’s bubbly personality brought the humor to life!

What I look for in a production of Shakespeare is not how the actors recite their lines word for word, but how the entire production, as a whole, comes together. The lighting, set, costumes, and acting all came together to create a feeling and an emotion in the theatre. I was lucky enough to have the lines fresh in my memory, not having to concentrate one each word to understand the plot, and for that reason was able to really enjoy everything else that was going on. Romeo and Juliet is a simple story at its core, but it is the entire production that makes it something special.

Romeo and Juliet
Richard Rogers Theatre
September 1, 2013

Marina B. Nebro