ATMOSPHERIC, MOODY, DARK AND MODERN,
ROMEO AND JULIET AT A.R.T. BELONGS TO THE AGES
As summer turns to autumn, American Repertory Theater brings a dark and moody interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, to the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge. This production from director Diane Paulus, collaborating with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, reminds us that much of Romeo and Juliet takes place at night, and it is night that Juliet (Emilia Suárez) invokes in her passionate delivery of her Act III soliloquy of longing for Romeo (Rudy Pankow). Suárez shines throughout this dark production, bringing fresh naturalism and humor to her delivery of her famous balcony speech. She begins as a girl with her nose in a book, a girl for whom marriage “is an honor I dream not of,” who becomes by the end a hot mess of erotic longing, a woman who willingly gives her life for love, not just once, but twice.
Sharon Catherine Brown (Nurse) and Emilia Suárez (Juliet) in A.R.T.’s Romeo and Juliet
The role of Romeo simply is not as rich as the role of Juliet. From the moment he first appears, besotted with Rosaline, Romeo is ready to die for love. It’s really not until his final speech, when Romeo kisses Juliet (whom he believes to be dead) and prepares to drink the poison that will kill him, that Pankow had the opportunity to bring the same passion to his performance that Suárez demonstrates throughout.
Emilia Suárez (Juliet) and Rudy Pankow (Romeo)
Through most of the play, lighting (Jen Schriever) is limited to spotlights, glowing basket-ball sized spheres, and a moon that shines overall. Original music composed by Alexandre Dai Castaing (sound design, Daniel Lundberg) heightens this affect, consisting of prolonged single chords that evoke moans, groans, sighs, or cries. These sounds are not music to dance to, yet choreography drives the action. Through Cherkaoui’s direction we see the restless masculinity of the young males who precipitate the fights that doom the lovers as well as the wonderful wedding scene in which Friar Laurence (Terrence Mann) offers elegant ministrations shown as secondary to the exchange of vows between the two young people through the choreographed movements of all three characters. Scenic designer Amy Rubin’s set of a tall, monolithic box that opens to allow a balcony and turns to provide scene changes was not a complete success from my perspective, but the depiction of Juliet’s out-of-body experience following her ingestion of Friar Laurence’s potion through silhouette and pantomime was fantastic.
Rudy Pankow (Romeo) and Terrence Mann (Friar Laurence)
As is often the case with Shakespeare, some of the supporting roles are also the most satisfying. Mann is wonderful as Laurence, portraying him as a man who doubts the wisdom of the marrying Romeo and Juliet yet sees an opportunity to bring an end to the stubborn feuding of the Montagues and the Capulets, a feud with no known cause but ingrained multi-generational hatred. Sharon Catherine Brown always commands our attention as Juliet’s Nurse, whether she is playing up the humor of her role or nurturing her young charge and trying to ensure the best possible outcome for her. Though she plays a character socially inferior to her employer Lady Capulet (Nicole Villamil), she comes across as morally superior in her consideration of Juliet’s needs rather than the demands of convention.
Clay Singer (Mercutio), Rudy Pankow (Romeo), and Brandon Dial (Benvolio)
Clay Singer brings physical humor as well as insight in his mocking of Romeo’s tendency to fall in love too easily in the brilliantly foreshadowed balcony scene with Benvolio (Brandon Dial) along with his dying rage and his cursing of both the Montagues and the Capulets for their inability to set their hatred aside.
Emilia Suárez (Juliet), Rudy Pankow (Romeo), Terrence Mann (Friar Laurence)
The play is a tragedy, but it ends on a hopeful note, with the feuding families finally reconciling over their shared grief. The stage is fully lit at last, offering an answer to the essential questions posed by the show’s program: In what ways do we define our lives through hatred? In what ways do we define our lives through love?
Rudy Pankow (Romeo) and Emilia Suárez (Juliet)
Many wonder what might have become of the relationship between these “star-crossed lovers” had they lived, and other writers have toyed with that concept. Would their hasty marriage have soon devolved into squabbles and boredom? Or would their love have deepened and matured with time as they weathered problems with in-laws as well as life’s inevitable challenges? Would independent and intellectually curious Juliet have found the restrictions of marriage and likely motherhood soul-crushing? Or would Romeo have been one of those all-too-rare men who delighted in and supported her in pushing the boundaries? These aren’t questions that the play ever answers, just as the question of how people who hate one another can set aside their differences to agree to live in peace is not fully resolved (unless you accept the sacrifice of numerous young people as a solution). What it does offer, in the end, is a chance to explore yet another aspect of the mysteries of humanity, through some of the richest and most nuanced characters and poetry in the English language.
photos by Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall
Romeo and Juliet
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)
Harvard University
Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, 64 Brattle St in Cambridge
ends on October 6, 2024
for tickets (from $35), visit A.R.T.