The Beauty in the Classics

For all of the plays written by Shakespeare, the comedies, tragedies and histories, I doubt any are as famous as Romeo and Juliet.  It’s an age old tale of forbidden love, intense rivalries, and death.  And although I don’t know why this play has been the Shakespeare forerunner for all this time, I must say, every time you see it, you’re going to see something different.  From the numerous stagings of it, as well as movies, and even musicals (seriously, there’s a rendition in the musical Bare and a jukebox musical called & Juliet…go look them up), Romeo and Juliet is a play that we absolutely love to just…eat up.

This has been the season of Shakespeare, and the Arden’s production of Romeo and Juliet definitely did not disappoint.  With a nice balance of classic and modern, I absolutely loved watching this play.  Now, I’ve seen Romeo and Juliet about ten million times.  And for such a famous show, it’s not necessarily an easy one to produce.  I’ve seen some terrible productions of this show, just as I’ve seen some really phenomenal ones.  You have to do it right.  And here I am, outright saying it…the Arden did it right.

Everything about this show caught my attention.  I loved the simple set, with a basic chain link fence and round stage with two benches.  The brick wall that was the back of the stage had “Love you” and “te amore” faintly graffitied on it.  They used curtains and simulated candlelight to create different backdrops to different scenes.  The costumes were also stunning, ranging from a simple white shirt and trousers to a decorated and shining corset top.  It was definitely how I would want to see Romeo and Juliet staged.  If you’re going to take on the telling of this story, it needs to be the center of your attention.  Not everything else around you.

Like I said above, the telling of Romeo and Juliet has been done a million times and is hard to get right.  One of the things that I feel really influences this is the chemistry between the actors.  Stage chemistry is always important, and this cast was incredible together.  I think my favorite part of the show was the “bro” relationship between Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio.  Gabe Moses (Romeo), Tyler S. Elliott (Mercutio) and Travoye Joyner (Benvolio) had insane chemistry.  The three of them worked as a solid team of best friends who truly loved each other, and it blew me out of the water.

Something that I’ve come to learn about Shakespeare is that you can’t always rely on the dialogue to know what’s going on.  In some ways, modern English is a totally different language from Elizabethan English.  You also need to watch what the characters are doing.  Things like their body language, and how they interact with each other, can change something confusing into something where you know exactly what’s happening.  I think this production of Romeo and Juliet did an incredible job of making this show palatable.  We all know the story, but there are so many details that get lost in translation.  I felt like I knew what was going on throughout this whole show, something that is simply not easy.

Another really important thing about Shakespeare is the fight scenes.  There’s a lot of sword fighting in Shakespeare, and if done incorrectly, these scenes can look campy or unrealistic.  The fight choreography in this production was absolutely jaw dropping.  The sword fights were captivating and took my breath away.  They were done so smoothly, so effortlessly (or so it appeared to me), and I believed every thrust and every stab entirely.  The use of blood for wounds was utilized perfectly.  It wasn’t over or under done, and every wound that involved blood looked realistic and like a reasonable amount of blood for the wounds.  From Mercutio’s fatal stab wound to Juliet’s stabbing herself, the actions and use of blood were exactly how they should have been

This production of Romeo and Juliet was about two and a half hours long, but it definitely didn’t feel like it was.  I felt like I was so sucked into this world, into these relationships, the love and the hate, and everything else that’s built up in Romeo and Juliet.  I think that’s just another mark to a well done Shakespeare play.  I’ve seen Shakespeare that goes in an instant, and I’ve seen Shakespeare that goes on for an eternity.  This production was the perfect timing for the play.  I felt they really gave the audience everything they could, and it felt like the most perfect pacing and presentation of a production of Romeo and Juliet.  Probably the best that I’ve ever seen.

Although I would have loved to get in sooner, I saw Romeo and Juliet on the matinee of closing day.  I think the plus side to this is that this was a play that had the chance to grow and change and breathe in a different way than it might have when it started out.  I was seeing the end of a masterpiece…and a masterpiece it certainly was.  I would never say that Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays (probably not even top five, honestly), but it was the first Shakespeare play I ever tackled.  This production brought back the love and nostalgia that I didn’t even know I still had for this show.  And that’s magic within itself.