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Romeo and Juliet
At
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
On Navy Pier
www.chicagoshakes.com
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312.595.5633
Barbara Gaines: Artistic Director
Criss Henderson: Executive Director
By William Shakespeare
Starring:
Carman Lacivita, Julia Coffey, Rondi Reed, Mike Nussbaum,
Robert Petkoff, Susan Hart, Steve Hendrickson, Michael Polak, Nick Sandys, Brian Hamman, John, Hoogenakker, David Lively, Susan Wands, Kevin Asselin,
Mac Brandt, Warren Jackson, Danny Rhodes, Thomas Taylor, Kate Bergeron,
Don Blair, Cliff Chamberlain, Tony Fiorentino, Matt Hawkins,
Justin Issa, Christopher William Johnson, Karin McKie,
Stesha Merle, Brian Plocharczyk, Mary Redmon, Symphony Sanders, Cody Wass, Mark Wax, Sara Weis
Director: Mark Lamos
Scenic Design: Michael Yeargan
Lighting Design: Rui Rita
Costume Design: Candice Donnelly
Wigs and Make-up Design: Melissa Veal
Sound Design: Scott Stauffer
Choreographer: Rachel Rockwell
Fight Choreographer: Robin H. McFarquhar
Vocal Coach: Christine Adaire
Casting: Bob Mason
Production Stage Manager: Deborah Acker
Public Relations: Jasen Woehrle
Sponsorship In Part: Fifth Third Bank
ComEd
Official Airline: American Airlines
Susan Weinrebe
May 5, 2005
Friar Laurence didn’t know the half of it when he worried, “These violent delights have violent ends…/like fire and powder, /Which, as they kiss, consume.” Well yeah! The current incarnation of Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare Theater personifies what could be the maxim of teens through the ages: Act first, think later!
No wonder this play is often part of junior high and high school curricula. It so perfectly encapsulates the teen experience, (apparently not much has changed in over 400 years), that it still resonates with kids today. And anyone who can remember back to his or her teen years, and is honest, knows the trueness of Shakespeare’s characterizations.
Glorious costumes designed to show off male figures, remind us that appearances have always counted in attracting a partner. Harlequin tights, torso hugging doublets, slashed sleeves, and codpieces! Romeo and Juliet prove the point when their chemistry starts fizzing at first sight!
If we could peer into the teenage brain and label areas responsible for behavior, we’d most likely see: lust, partying hearty, boredom, lust, impatience with their elders, sneaking around parents, defying parents, lust, hanging out with friends, getting into scrapes, getting out of scrapes, lust…. And there we have the bedevilment of adults and the elements of the plot.
The two leads, Julia Coffey as Juliet, and Carman Lacivita as Romeo, are truly credible in their roles. Actors seasoned enough to carry these parts, don’t always look young enough to portray the characters, but these players are well cast.
Ms. Coffey uses her slim build and quicksilver step to great advantage especially during interplay with the Nurse. Lifted, swung, and cradled, at times reminiscent of a very young and fey Julie Harris, she creates the illusion of Juliet’s immaturity.
Yet, as Juliet experiences the first glimmering of physical attraction, she seamlessly morphs into a teen! It doesn’t take her long to catch on to flirting and necking and sending her “crew”, the Nurse, off as a go between with her crush. From there it’s a short step to abusive language, defiance, and making her own major life decisions!
Carman Lacivita’s Romeo is wide-eyed and yearning. His program picture doesn’t do justice to the sweetness with which he imbues his part. In another role, his dark good looks and fair form could be the attributes of a heart breaker and hell raiser. But here, he uses them to affect the sort of boy who is often overlooked by girls his own age precisely because of his sincerity. Much later in real life, these girls might look back and regret letting him get away.
After meeting a swell guy at a party, lots of girls moon around in their rooms, wondering if they’ll ever hear from him. Was Juliet writing out combinations of her name and Romeo’s before she appeared on the balcony: Juliet & Romeo, Juliet Montague, Mrs. R. Montague?
Popular wisdom says that females mature emotionally more quickly than boys. In this respect, Juliet proves herself to be as quick a study as the rest of her sisterhood. She has looked at Romeo and looking moved her to liking - and beyond. Before Romeo can give a think, he’s declaring honorable intentions – marriage! I almost heard the whirr of a reel as Ms. Coffey landed her swain.
The flush of attraction and the rush for physical proximity are inherent in the couple’s lines. Before they, or for that matter, most teens can sort out boring distracters like similar interests, and family expectations, hormones take over. However, heavy breathing and haste sometimes made lines difficult to understand.
Before too long, Romeo and Juliet find themselves enwebbed in as sticky a set of circumstances as life could ever spin. Like pinballs in an arcade, they carom from one poor judgment to another even worse. They seek help from surrogate parents instead of the parents themselves. Ill-conceived and risky plans are proposed and accepted without the forethought to figure out how those plans could go wrong. They throw themselves into “all or nothing” behavior. In short, they act like teens! And these are the “good” kids!
As the Nurse, Rondi Reed is a magnificent foil to Ms. Coffey’s Juliet. If ever there was a plumy role as confidante and willing abettor in lust, love, loss, whatever, this is it. Played to the bottom of that good woman’s being, Ms. Reed evokes all the ruddy humor and heart wished for in her role.
Likewise, Mike Nussbaum, a perennially capable actor, plays Friar Laurence. His wide-eyed gentleness might well be the model his pupil, Romeo, has followed. In some portrayals I’ve seen, this “ghostly father” is made to seem meddlesome and even buffoonish and that has never set well with me. His machinations for a higher purpose are too serious to be the source of easy humor.
So, when Juliet, apparently dead, is discovered the morning of her wedding, the lamentations of her parents and the Nurse should be pathetic. Addressing the audience as though we were Friar Laurence’s accomplices in putting one over on the Capulets, spoiled the moment.
Mercutio is one of those young men, well known to authority figures everywhere. He is the instigator around whom prankishness roils; yet it’s usually others who pay the price for his sauciness. He is slick, smart, and fun and would be the bane of any teacher if he went to school.
Robert Petkoff, whose charisma was perfectly matched to his part, brilliantly portrayed Mercutio. Just as his name implies, Mercutio’s moods veer up and down the bipolarity scale, and he takes us with him. His Queen Mab speech conveyed the full range of bawdy humor, hilarity, and hysteria imbued in his, “…talk of dreams….” This actor moved me to tears with his death pronouncement, “They have made worms’ meat of me.” I can’t wait to see him in his next role.
In true teen style, Romeo itches to do something, anything when he hears that Juliet is dead. Doing something, anything, even a hasty, heart broken thing like committing suicide rather than just waiting a while, often seems a better choice to kids – and that’s tragic.
In some versions, of the play, Juliet shows signs of life just after Romeo has swallowed the poison and is doomed. Thus, his last conscious moments will be despairing at the futility of his death. I was grateful we were spared this directorial cruelty.
So, there you have it, a fine mess of hasty actions. I overheard an audience member say, “Romeo and Juliet loved each other sooo much they were willing to die for each other.” Yikes! I thought we’d just been through the results of such fallacious thinking. But then again, that’s what’s so great about this play. We can look at Romeo and Juliet’s do or die behavior and be grateful we made it through our own teen years.
Romeo and Juliet
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
Romeo and Juliet
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
Romeo and Juliet
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
Romeo and Juliet
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
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