After 36 years off Broadway, William Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet is revived. Richard Rodgers Theatre presents a modern twist of the ancient story of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. This modern interpretation is directed by David Leveaux and involves interracial characters and dramatic changes to the setting. Orlando Bloom makes his Broadway debut as the brash and passionate Romeo. Bloom, who is known for his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings, is able to captivate the audience from the start and shows off his experience in acting. On the other hand, Condola Rashad, actress from Stick Fly and Trip to Bountiful, breaks through barriers by playing the first black Juliet. Although this rendition of Romeo and Juliet can be interpreted as revolving around the tensions between two racial groups, I believe it is more focused on the differences between modern and ancient times.
The play starts off with a pitch, black stage. The loud sound of a bell suddenly rings throughout the theatre, startling the audience. A dove proceeds to fly onto the stage, as a light appears on a man in medieval clothing. He talks to the audience while fire and flames burn across the stage on long rods. Immediately after he finishes speaking, a brawl breaks out, knives and chains are thrown and flung across stage. Finally the two rival families, Montague and Capulet, are introduced. The beginning of the play is extremely chaotic and flamboyant. It happens incredibly quickly, so most of the dialogue is lost through the fighting and screaming. However, the first scene successfully captivates the audience’s attention and prepares the audience for what’s to come.
As soon as the brawl disperses, the scene quickly changes as Romeo, Orlando Bloom, rides onto stage on a motorcycle. You can feel the audience grow with excitement as Bloom skids across stage. As Bloom opens his mouth and speaks his first lines of old Shakespearian language, I became aware of how out of place he seems, wearing his hoody, jeans and sneakers and riding his motorcycle. However as the play progresses, I am able to get used to the clashing between modern and ancient culture. This clashing in time period styles is seen throughout the play, from bicycles, motorcycles and paper money to the background of a large graffiti covered mural of an old picture of Christ and saints praying. Most of the time modern references were used to provide comical relief, like when the Friar exclaimed “holy Saint Francis”! Ultimately this creative, contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet makes the play much more relatable and entertaining to the modern audience.
When Juliet first runs across the stage (she’s having a pillow fight with a servant), the audience immediately reacts to her liveliness and excitement. As the play goes on, Juliet and Romeo meet for the first time and share a long and passionate kiss. Twinkly, serene music plays as Romeo and Juliet looked longingly into each other’s eyes. This was my favorite scene of the play because the audience can feel the strong chemistry between the two actors and the scene felt magical and real.
Romeo and Juliet immediately get married the day after they meet, however their joyous mood is put to an abrupt end right after their nuptials. After a series of terrible events, Romeo is convicted of murdering Juliet’s cousin and is banished. Juliet becomes extremely depressed and is forced by her parents to marry someone else. Ultimately Romeo and Juliet kill themselves because they can’t be together. The scenes in the play go by fairly quickly. If I did not know the plot of the play beforehand (from reading the play in middle school), I would be confused about who the characters were (not all the characters were introduced) and what was happening. Although it is not necessary, I recommend reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet before watching the play to get the most out of the experience.
During many parts of the play, the actors are successful in engaging the audience as if the audience were part of the play. The actors would run through aisles and at one scene Juliet sits on a swing and swings towards the audience. The audience, which consists mostly of teenage and middle aged females, as well as a few couples, are able to feel as if they are part of the character’s subconscious and understand them better. On many occasions a spotlight would shine on one character and the other characters in the background would stop moving Then the actor in the spotlight would begin to talk to the audience about how they felt This technique using light makes it seem like time has stopped and the character is talking directly to the audience. Another successful technique to engage the audience is the use of music. The music sets the mood and atmosphere of the scene. During scenes where Juliet and Romeo were together, soft cello music would play and create a sense of magic and harmony. In other scenes like the masquerade ball, a mixture of African, jazz and hip hop music played to create a festive mood.
Ultimately I believe Romeo and Juliet is worth watching, especially if you are a Shakespeare enthusiast or Orland Blooms fan. The plot and tragic ending is kept the same, but the modern references make the play relatable to the audience. My favorite aspects of the play have to be the unique use of music and the chemistry between Romeo and Juliet. Not only were they able to express and act out passionate lines, they connected with the audience and kept my attention for the whole play.
