Romeo
& Juliet

Adair Whetstone

Andrea Passwater

Becky Diehl

Hayley McNeill

Sierra Perkins

Adair Whetstone

I just went to the theater and dance departments’ production of Romeo and Juliet. There were some really bright moments in the play. All of the technical aspects of this play worked like a clock. First off, the set was beautiful. The ornate railings and textured stone were played up by mood-casting red and blue backlights. The music filtered in at just the right points. Scene transitions were smooth, aided by the sets ability to rotate. I really want to applaud the lighting designer for really utilizing the spotlight. Aesthetically, this production could have easily been confused with a professional one, the only thing that kept distracting me was the disparity between male a female costuming. I don’t know for what period they intended to dress the players, but two genders seemed to be wearing clothes from separate decades.

Ben Holmes does a fantastic job as a wild hearted, somewhat comic Romeo. One of my favorite scenes was of him almost from Juliet’s balcony when startled by the nurse. He has great comic timing, and had a good relationship with the audience. During one scene Romeo goes to Friar Laurence to tell him of his new found love for Juliet. Holmes’ self piteous whimpering and other antics sent the crowed into chuckles. Holmes really brought a lot of energy to the stage.

Andrea Passwater

Here, where there should be a catchy opening to my review, I can only say: “That set was absolutely amazing.” Andy Fitch and Brian Baillif, you get a record-breaking amount of kudos. How on earth did you fit four completely different sets in there?

Imagine, dear readers, walking into a room. There’s a castle with balconies and a winding staircase, complete with detailed wrought-iron banisters. Behind the castle is a giant white screen, and different-colored lights are shown on it to represent the time of day. At dawn, it’s red and yellow and orange—at night a deep blue. It was gorgeous.

Oh, and the costumes! The lights! It was just like a movie. Chamberlain, McDonald, I tip my hat to you.

As you can see, I’m still very excited about the imagery a day later. Even if you hate Shakespeare, I urge you to go and just absorb the scenery. That alone just might be worth the $8.

Now, onto the play itself. I’m sure everyone has heard of Romeo and Juliet—the two desperate lovers who were never meant to be. But, as director Seth Panitch says, “Romeo and Juliet is not a love story.” I would say, to an extent, that he is right. It’s about teen angst, forbidden pleasures, innocence, and ignorance. I really liked this version of the play, because those themes were communicated very well. To often when people perform Shakespeare, they make it as over-dramatic and emotionally intense as possible. The actors in this play talked and acted like a real teenager would. A bit dramatic, yes, but with sarcasm and jest, too. And you could tell how fickle Romeo was, and how child-like Juliet was.

The actors were, for the most part, good. I thought the Nurse (Dianne Teague) did a very good job. I could hardly even tell she was acting; it looked as though she and the character were the same person. Mercutio (Sonequa Martin) is also definitely worth mentioning. That’s right; a woman played Mercutio—and did a good job too. She got a bit too dramatic for a second in one scene of the first act, but her performance was otherwise flawless.

The play did open strongly, but I think that about half-way through the first act things got a little sour for a while. Things were acted out a bit too dramatically (people kept screaming out their lines and it became very annoying), or the actors got so involved with their lines they forgot that there were other people on stage with them that they had to interact with. By intermission, I honestly wanted to go home. But I’m glad I stayed. Maybe there was a pep talk in the back or something, I’m not really sure, but the whole second act was performed just how theatre was meant to be. There were a lot of intense two-person scenes that really allowed the characters to shine through, and a couple of amazing performances from Juliet (Kelly Ann Shamburger).

Becky Diehl

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been performed many times both on stage and in film. After having a previously bad experience with a rendition of Romeo and Juliet I must admit that I was cautious about seeing the play performed here at UA. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. The director took a different approach to the “love story” that everyone knows. The actors actually portrayed the kids that the characters are. Another difference in this version of the play was Mercutio being played by a female, Sonequa Martin. It was an interesting difference but one that surprisingly made the lewd jokes Mercutio makes even funnier.

At not yet fourteen, Juliet (Kelly Ann Shamburger) actually acted like a young teen would in her situation. She whined and cried and added a youthful dimension to the character that was quite humorous. Romeo (Ben Holmes) also did a good job of actually acting like the teenager Romeo is supposed to be. He had to run the gamut of emotions from despair, to anger, to lust/love and back again. I was equally impressed with both Holmes and Shamburger’s ability to lie still while they were ‘dead’ toward the end of the play while the action continued around them. They had to lie there for a quite some time and didn’t move a muscle. Needless to say I was very pleased with this rendition of Romeo and Juliet.

Hayley McNeill

“For never was a story of more woe; Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” So Shakespeare’s words say of the tragic tale, however Seth Panitch’s interpretation of the classic was comedic yet dramatic and made the heart of the audience leap just as much as it fell at its ending.

Starting the show off was a quartet of live violinists playing in renaissance costumes, setting the scene for the rest of the show. When the lights went up one could see the stage and its intricate one-piece set, with intricate winding staircases on practically all sides which turned during certain scenes. The lit backdrop throughout the show was cleverly planned as color crept across the screen as a sunrise began, beginning each new day and a blue azure background took the place of the light after the shown sundown.

Romeo (Ben Holmes) was quite apt in displaying a range of emotions during the entire play. Instead of playing a straight Romeo who is either angry or wimpy the entire time, Holmes gave such a performance that one could see the journey he crossed from puppy love to passion and murder to ardor.

Juliet (Kelly Ann Shamburger) was a joy to watch. Not only were her facial expressions truly memorable, she was played like a preteen should be, with giggly excitement and desperate exasperations. It was interesting to see her grow as the story progressed for towards the end she wasn’t a little girl anymore but a woman who knew what she wanted and would do whatever to get it.

The ensemble was quite animated and each individual had their own story to tell. Whether it was fighting with fans or dunking someone’s head into the water, it became quite evident that the Capulets and Montagues truly loathed one another with a comic zeal. Mercutio (Sonequa Martin) demanded and deserved the audience’s attention whenever she spoke. Her articulation and inflection of her speeches made a possibly lengthy monologue come to life with her words. With impressions of characters and different voices, it was a pity she had to die so early in the play. The Nurse (Diane Teague) was spunky and had a mind of her own. Her connection with Juliet was real and affectionate, making the story feel even more authentic. One of the audience’s favorites was (Sampson) Austin McDonald, whose comedic moves and character mannerisms stole scenes and got anyone laughing.

Sierra Perkins

Like most everyone who attended high school, I had to read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; and like most, I found it almost impossible to understand the language. I got the core themes but missed the beautiful subtleties present throughout the text. Seth Pantich’s wonderful directing, and the comedic timing of the actors, made me look at this play in a whole new way. My first response upon leaving the theater was, “I never knew Shakespeare was so dirty!” They succeeded in showing me things that had me laughing hysterically on several occasions.

The comedic sexual overtones and amazingly choreographed slapstick were executed brilliantly by the cast. During the opening scene, I was shocked to see one girl thrust the head of another into a well, and more than one person in the front row duck to avoid the thrust of a sword. I must broach the question— who thought giving that many boys swords was a good idea? The most memorable aspect of this wonderful comedy was the acting of Austin McDonald, an overeager servant who captured my interest almost immediately.

After reading the director’s introduction, I had a feeling that the next few hours were going to be a dismal social commentary. My fears were reinforced before the actors even came on stage. The entire set was backlit in a red glow and I really expected the sounds of grenades to pierce the air.

I am aware of the age of Romeo and Juliet, but I was still taken aback when “pre-pubescent” was the first word I could find to describe Romeo. Although Ben Holmes does an amazing job throughout the production, I think the dashing Darin Robert Cabot (Tybalt) fit my idea of Romeo. I will say of Holmes, he showed amazing composure at times and although still not my ideal Romeo, greatly impressed me as an actor.

I found the character of Juliet (played by Kelly Ann Shamburger) to be entirely too whiney for my taste, and aside from a few very well delivered scenes, I would have preferred someone who didn’t irk my nerves quite so much. The two young actors were wonderful during their execution of the balcony scene. I would have been completely wrapped up in their acting had it not been for the lighting. There was a florescent glow on one side of the set that made me think there was a pesky street light somewhere around.

Another aspect of the production that somewhat bothered me was the continued pronunciation of the word banished as bani-shed. The first time one of the characters pronounced it this way I thought it was a mistake or personal error, however, as the play progressed it was said that way every time and by every character. I was so caught up in this that I was unable to enjoy that section of the play. It was like nails being scraped over a chalkboard. Aside from this, and a bit of Dr. Seuss type rhythm in places, the actors did a great job of traversing what are often very difficult passages.

The lighting and set design suited this production nicely (with the exception of the street light on the balcony and the “war scene” at the beginning) and in no place better than the burial scene. The bodies were washed in purple and the haunting music created an eerie setting, and toward the end I felt myself moved to tears. Although I didn’t cry, I heard a girl behind me say that she did. All the elements melded together to make a very effective scene.

While there were several parts of this production I didn’t like, there were a few stars which stood out to me. The nurse has long been one of my favorite characters and Dianne Teague did her great justice. I really looked forward to the times she would be on stage. The next was Sonequa Martin’s Mercutio. Perhaps one of the more difficult characters to play, Mercutio has several complicated passages and has to endure a very long death scene. Martin gives this character a tantalizing voice and would truly make Shakespeare very happy. Every second she was present was a true joy. Also, although I didn’t quite look forward to his presence, Wade Mowles’ Capulet thoroughly intrigued me when he was there. He really had a grasp on his complex, supporting character.