A TIMELESS TRAGEDY
TAKES ON A GILDED GLOW

A beautifully conceived update proves
Shakespeare’s young lovers lose
none of their power in a new era

There’s something magical about sitting in the woods at Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum as the sun sets, when countless crickets and frogs add their songs to the sounds of nature that fill the space. Even more amazing is the wonder of witnessing a marvelous production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, updated to the Gilded Age in New York City in 1885. It was a time in our country of great beauty and glittering progress, with the hope of better days ahead.

But in society, there was a great imbalance, with the rich building mansions and holding extravagant balls dressed in exquisitely detailed formal wear, while poor immigrant families were crowded into tenements, fighting to create unions that would uplift workers striving to be treated humanely and paid a living wage.

In this age of great social class divisions live Romeo and Juliet, impulsive and hopeful teenagers from two families on opposite sides of the social tracks. Juliet is a Callahan, a wealthy family looking to increase its social standing by making a good match for its almost 16-year-old only daughter by promising her to Paris, a man of noble birth, while Romeo is a working-class Mulligan experiencing heartbreak and loneliness after being jilted by Rosaline, who apparently cares nothing about him.

As the day ends and Juliet prepares to attend the ball at which her father plans to introduce her to Paris and seal the deal, Romeo is pulled out of his funk by his street-smart friends Mercutio and Benvolio, who encourage him to crash the Callahans’ masquerade ball by donning a mask and downing a few too many drinks to forget his troubles. And you know what happens when the two teenagers see each other across the ballroom: They choose to follow their hearts rather than being cautious about what their disastrous cross-cultural liaison might mean for their future.

And here’s where the magic came into play: The sounds of the forest entered the tale just as Romeo and Juliet met for the first time—as if their fluttering hearts were being expressed by their natural environment, each chirp of the crickets and croak of a frog representing the beating of their two hearts drawing them together.

Shakespeare’s tragic tale is adapted by Ellen Geer, Theatricum’s Co-Artistic Director, and helmed to perfection by fellow Co-Artistic Director Willow Geer. with assistant director Natalia Jofre and fight choreographer Cavin (CR) Mohrhardt making good use of every space on the extra-wide, multi-level set, as well as the adjoining woods and theater seating. But rather than going through the well-known story scene by scene, I want to share the extraordinary 22-member cast, each of whom masterfully brings a character to life onstage.

First and foremost, kudos to teenagers Asher Hagler and Quinnlyn Scheppner for their magnificent and realistic portrayals of Romeo and Juliet as the teenagers they are meant to be. Their scenes together evoke the magic necessary to believe these two could meet and, in an instant, decide to forget everything and everyone else and choose to be together for the rest of their lives. And when they look into each other’s eyes, you can feel the sparks fly.

The only drawback to their time together onstage involves their poorly directed, all-too-brief peck-like kisses, for if these two are drawn together beyond their emotional control and reason, their kisses should be deep and long-lasting, proving the spark you sense between them really does exist down to their very souls.

Ellen Geer is totally authentic, deeply caring, and often humorous in her portrayal of Juliet’s Nurse, especially as she offers comfort to the heartsick teen. The connection and natural comfort level between the two actors—mother a daughter—seems deeply rooted in truth, so it made perfect sense that young Quinnlyn is her real-life granddaughter. And thus, the Geer acting tradition carries on with another generation.

The Callahans are led by Jon Sprik as Juliet’s demanding and overbearing father, who is used to getting what he wants. So when she defies him and refuses to marry Paris (Ethan Haslam), Sprik unleashes an authentically mad tirade that made me fear a heart attack was about to happen right in front of me. Lady Callahan, his upwardly mobile wife, is portrayed by Michelle Jasso with the expected silent nature required to appease her husband’s authority over the rest of the family. After all, he is the breadwinner, and she reaps the benefits of his wealth, expressed by costume designer A. Jeffrey Schoenberg, who dresses the high-class character in a lovely gold satin and sequined gown. But it made me wonder why the character never changed out of her ball gown for the rest of the play, only adding a black shawl when attending her daughter’s funeral.

The play’s antagonist, Tybalt, is portrayed by tall and handsome David Benne, wearing a red brocade vest to acknowledge his social status over the earth-toned attire of the Mulligans. His quick temper matches that of Juliet’s father, making Tybalt seem cut from the same emotional cloth that makes him demand obedience from those in the Mulligan clan.

And who are the Mulligans? Leading the clan are Billy Walker and Brooke Heatley, dressed in more modest clothing, who love and worry about their heartbroken son, Romeo, after he disappears to hang out with his friends. Those friends are led by hot-blooded and socially rising Mercutio (Rhett Curry), who wears white gloves and an earth-toned long coat to represent his desire to move past his low-class birth, and his tagalong buddy Benvolio (Jesse Corwin). Thanks to Curry and Benne’s realistically escalating anger leading to their attention-grabbing duel, even though you know the outcome will claim both their lives and cause Romeo to be banished, you will still find yourself rooting for them to settle their differences without bloodshed, wishing Romeo’s good intentions to stop the duel actually succeed.

Another actor of note is Max Lawrence as pious Friar Lawrence, the religious leader of the New York City neighborhood where both families live. His sincere and caring heart, longing to rid the area of the ongoing hatred between the two families, allows him to compassionately agree to marry the teens and then provide Juliet with a way to avoid marrying Paris so Romeo can sweep her away from her “deathbed” to live together in peace, although forever banished from their families. Of course, because his message sent via Father John (Shane McDermott) never reaches Romeo, he learns of Juliet’s death and visits the local Apothecary (Michelle Merring) for the death-inducing potion he drinks after being led to Juliet’s body by his friend Balthasar (Ethan Ricks).

Did I want to call out to Romeo, “Don’t drink that”? Of course I did. But this is perhaps Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, requiring the deaths of its lead characters, as much as we wish their timing could have been adjusted by just a few minutes.

But of course, Shakespeare’s famous couplet summing up the play’s sad tale must be spoken at the end: “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

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photos by Ian Flanders

Romeo and Juliet
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga
part of Theatricum’s repertory season
ends on September 26, 2026
for dates and tickets ($15–$63; children 4 and under free),
call 310.455.3723 or visit Theatricum
dress casually (warmly for evenings), bring cushions
for bench seating, and arrive early to picnic in the gardens
(parking is $10 per car, free for disabled patrons)

for more shows, visit Theatre in LA

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