Romeo and Juliet Review

Theater Gets By

Before analyzing the underlying intentions of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet, it is necessary to define exactly whom the company wanted to attract to the play, and for what overall tangible goal. Based off of my personal experience watching the play (I found it easy to digest), I would say that the company desires to attract an audience with a novice, or intermediate knowledge of Shakespeare’s work (which I myself hold). Such a large target group is necessary to fulfil the goal of any artist(s) – to stay in business – and in this particularly case, to compete with the modern medium of a cinema (modern in respect to live theater). In order to appeal to such an audience, the production has to do, and in fact intends to do, these three things: dispel the misconception that a play is more restrictive than a movie, engage the audience as part of the story (most effective when done live), and assist those who express difficulty understanding Shakespearean language/dialogue.

In terms of restrictions for a play, one generally questions how a production can accommodate for a large amount of scenery, in only one fixed location – the stage area. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production not only answers that question, but also attempts to demonstrate how few props are actually needed to portray a recognizable setting. Aside from providing a balcony, the stage itself does not convey a specific environment, as its design is artistically abstract. Therefor, the company utilizes lighting to establish the time of day, and a vague location – which a minimal amount of props help to define. To give an example: for the night scenes, the background lighting is tinted a deep blue to create the illusion of a moonlit sky; in the foreground of the stage, several small, yellow lights are lowered down from the ceiling to represent stars. From this arrangement alone, one is able to deduce that the scene is taking place somewhere outdoors, and during the night. With the additional presence of only four flower pots on the stage, and a fully lit balcony above, it becomes clear that the scene occurs in the garden below Juliet’s bedroom. The play’s simplicity mainly derives from the company’s recycling of these props [as well as others throughout the various acts]. The yellow stage lights are reused to represent candles in the final scene, and since a dungeon is an unnatural location for a balcony, it ceases to be illuminated. In addition, the flower pots below Juliet’s bedroom are double sided: they are flipped to the flower side only after being used in the previous ‘Caputlet party scene’, as indoor decorations.

A minimal, yet creative approach to the setting, is just one of many ways the production engages the audience’s imagination. At times in the play, the stage extends into the audience’s realm, as actors occasionally enter and exit using aisles situated in the ground floor seating. Actors also directly address the audience during certain monologues, and musical scenes. There are even moments when the performers pause for laughter, a sign that they recognize the audience’s presence; one such occurrence was when Juliet anxiously shouted, “what say Romeo!” Furthermore, there exists a pattern in the structure of the play, that prevents the performance from becoming dull: the play begins and ends with all the actors on stage reciting their lines in unity; the scene transitions are more often than not accompanied by music (three minstrels), and the acts typically open with song and dance. As a result, the changing of scenes can go unnoticed, since ensembles cleverly disguised as servants, rearrange the props while the audience fixates on the music/dancing. The production clearly does not want to disrupt the audience’s imagination, and thus incorporates the changing of the set as part of the play. Lastly, there is a three-dimensional aspect to the production, that a film cannot replicate (for the obvious reason that it’s live). Actors engage with various fixtures on the set, and pace, run, or roll back and forth between the foreground and the background (creates depth). Mercutio, for example, constantly swings on the metals bars that are fastened on the stage walls; this also helps to convey his energetic, mischievous character.

Body language is not only used by the performers to accentuate character personality, but also to cue those in the audience who have difficulty understanding Elizabethan English, when a joke is being told. The best such example is in the opening scene of the play, where two servants of the Capulet family exchange sexual puns about ‘conquering’ Montahue women. To ensure that the audience reacts to the jokes, one of the servants enacts his pun by ‘riding’ a barrel; later in the play, Mercutio mocks Romeo’s love for Juliet by pretending to orally pleasure him. Such gestures seem fairly modern, but if not, there are still various other minute adaptions in the story/plot – like Tybalt’s death. I had forgotten how he originally dies (stabbed), so when I found his drowning was an adaption, I became intrigued as to why this choice was made. Overall, the play stays true to the text, allowing for even Shakespearean experts to enjoy the performance. More important, this is an indication that the company intends to educate, as well as entertain, those with a novice familiarity of Shakespeare’s work. The production is indeed successful in achieving its goals, especially in denouncing misconceptions about plays, and I am glad to see that an entertainment medium has gone on for so long.