By Mike Hoban
Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Peter DuBois; Scenic Design, Wilson Chin; Costume Design, Ilona Somogyi; Lighting Design, Russell H. Champa; Original Music & Sound Design, Obadiah Eaves; Choreographer, Daniel Pelzig; Fight Direction, Rick Sordelet & Christian Kelly-Sordelet. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at 264 Huntington Ave., Boston through March 31
Over the years there have been a multitude of theatrical updates of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s tragic tale of doomed teen lovers, with the best of those inarguably being the Bernstein/Laurents/Sondheim masterpiece, West Side Story. The latest take comes from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Peter Dubois, who – with the help of a plethora of Boston’s local stage luminaries – transports the story into the 21st century while leaving the original text intact. It’s a surprisingly comic and wildly entertaining version of the classic, but it also does an admirable job of driving home the idea that the toxic “blind tribalism” that is threatening to destroy democracy in America today is hardly a new development.
It’s pretty apparent from the outset that this is not going to be a period piece, as the play opens with the full cast standing motionless against the backdrop of a dozen video screens. They disperse, and following the frenetic first scene where Capulets and Montagues engage in outright mayhem and are warned by Prince Escalus (a commanding Ed Hoopman) that the next violent incident will end in death for the perpetrators, the play begins to take on a decidedly comic tone. It’s almost as if 80’s teen comedy dean John Hughes was brought in as a consultant, as Romeo (a charming George Hampe) comes across as a kind of wisecracking John Cusack-esque character, even as he conveys his despair to his cousin Benvolio (Actor’s Shakespeare Project stalwart Omar Robinson) over his failure to earn the affection of Rosaline. The pair take the tomfoolery to the brink, breaking the fourth wall as they joke and flirt with the audience members in the front rows.
Dubois continues to push the comic boundaries with a very funny bit by the Capulet’s doddering servant (Dale Place), who tips off Romeo and Benvolio that Rosaline will be attending the Capulet’s masquerade ball which, along with their pal Mercutio, they decide to crash – despite it being off limits to all things Montague. As the boys make their way to the party, Mercutio (played by Matthew J. Harris, who won the Eliot Norton Best Actor Award last year for Top Dog/Underdog) turns Romeo’s romantic longings into a series of hip-hop-styled double entendres with a blistering and athletic performance that would make a coked-up Robin Williams seem subtle. Harris’s over the top turn makes it clear early on that this production is aiming for something completely different than what we’ve been comfortable with since high school.
The production really finds its groove when they arrive at the ball and Romeo and Juliet’s eyes first meet. Like a Luther Vandross love song, time slows down for all but the star-struck young lovers, and Dubois’ slow-motion staging of the scene is a brilliant stroke, aided greatly by the soulful original music by provided Obadiah Eaves, featuring the haunting refrain, “I’m a fool for you”. The joyful promise of watching the youngsters from warring families fall in love is soon jolted back to reality as Juliet’s cousin Tybalt goes into a fit of psychotic rage when he sees that Romeo has invaded Capulet territory – setting up the path for inevitable bloodbath and sorrow.
The cast is terrific, beginning with an assured breakout performance by Lily Santiago as Juliet. She totally embodies the essence of an immature not-quite 14 year old girl in the play’s early stages and then grows before our eyes as her courtship with Romeo unfolds. She and Hampe not only look good together, they have a genuine chemistry in their scenes. Marianna Bassham continues to assert herself as one of the region’s most enjoyable actors to watch (even as the disembodied voice in Speakeasy’s Small Mouth Sounds earlier this year) each time she sets foot onstage, and her performance as the not-quite-ready-for adulthood Lady Capulet is indicative of her ability to wrest humor from any role. Maurice Emmanuel Parent is a force as Capulet, and his explosion when his daughter bucks his will is truly frightening.
But it is the older hands (you can say that when you’re AARP-eligible) who nearly steal the show. Will Lyman is the personification of genuine spiritual warmth in the role of Friar Lawrence, even as he unwittingly seals the fate of the young couple due to circumstances beyond his control. Nancy Carroll brings her trademark comic touch to the role of the Nurse as she plays friend, confidant, confederate and surrogate mother to the doomed Juliet. But is the blank thousand mile stare that she employs as she brings the news of Tybalt’s death – and Romeo’s banishment – to her love struck young charge that was the play’s most memorable moment for this reviewer.
This is the first Shakespeare production for the Huntington in eight years, and Dubois and the company’s choice to update Romeo and Juliet to draw parallels to the dangers of misguided hatred to the current time period is a wise one. It also takes one of the true classics and re-imagines it in a way that broadens the appeal of theater for today’s audiences. See it. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.huntingtontheatre.org
There’s much to like about this R and J, and I enjoyed most of the lines delivered by Hampe as Romeo, which come off as very genuine. The dance scene and the subsequent balcony serene were highlights. And, Lyman as the Friar and Carroll as the nurse are perfection.
On the other hand, the amping up of almost everyone’s delivery (in what made me think of Nicolas Cage’s style of screaming his way through many movies) was too much for my taste. As a result, I was never able to warm up to Shakespeare’s English, as one usually can a few minutes into a production. Instead, many scenes simply consisted of people yelling at one another. Finally, I found Juliet’s mother detached and her father to be Alec Baldwin on steroids. Neither worked for me.
I certainly feel better for having seen this live production, but there were times when I pined for the more modulated R&J of “Shakespeare in Love.”