Uwishunu.com

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well-known tragedies of all time. Although there is great heartbreak in the story, it’s really about two privileged, insanely rich teenagers who want the one thing in the world they can’t have”"each other. Then, they get really bummed about it and kill themselves.

Shakespeare’s R&J, presented by Mauckingbird Theatre Company at the Adrienne Theater, gets rid of the aristocratic backdrop and replaces it with a much more taboo subject matter, providing a fresh update to the classic drama.

Playwright Joe Calarco’s twist on the story finds four young men studying at a strict, religious preparatory school. The boys become obsessed with Shakespeare’s original text and act it out overnight as a sanctuary from the harsh rules of their structured days spent memorizing commandments. Slowly, it becomes clear that the sexual and obsessive themes in the play are spilling over into the actors, especially those portraying Romeo and Juliet.

And it’s in those portrayals that the show really finds its stride. The four actors deliver high-energy performances that are funny, romantic and tragic at all the right moments. They all play multiple characters and often all play the same character at once, excitedly talking over each other or finishing each other’s lines. Although Evan Jonigkeit and Conrad Ricamora get top billing in their respective title roles as Romeo and Juliet, boys three and four Newton Buchanan and Nicholas Park are on stage for the entire performance and have great chemistry.

The sparse set and minimal lighting and sound effects accent the imaginary premise of the boys’ production of Romeo and Juliet. A long piece of silky red fabric serves as the primary prop, creatively portraying everything from blood, to a friar’s robes, to the symbolic bond of the boys playing Romeo and Juliet.

At times the play is more lighthearted than the original work. Rather than endlessly gazing into each other’s eyes and announcing their eternal love over and over again, Jonigkeit and Ricamora are playful and flirtatious with each other “” what new young love is really like. However, the additional homosexual element to their forbidden love makes the play endlessly more tragic than the original. A powerful minute-long pause at the wedding scene just before intermission underscores society’s prejudices when the other two boys try to stop the Romeo and Juliet from finishing their vows.

R&J works because its themes and messages are subtle and don’t overpower the original story. Calarco blends the story of the boys in convincing Shakespearian dialogue well before intermission, but wisely takes a back seat and lets the bard’s story propel to its conclusion. It is this humility in the storytelling that makes Shakespeare’s R&J successful.

Mauckingbird Theatre Company
www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org