Romeo and Juliet (review)

Presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall, Washington DC. September 13–November 6, 2016. Directed by Alan Paul. Scenic Design by Dane Laffrey. Costumes by Kaye Voyce. Lighting by Jen Schriever. Sound and music by Daniel Kluger. Choreography by Eric Sean Fogel. Fights by David Leong. With Shravan Amin (Peter), Jordan Aragon (Singer), Inga Ballard (Nurse), Jeffrey Carlson (Mercutio), Timothy Carter (Montague), Judith Lightfoot Clarke (Lady Capulet), Keith Hamilton Cobb (Capulet), Ross Destiche (Balthasar), Chris Genebach (Gregory/Friar John), Nathan Hinton (Friar Laurence), Jimmie "J. J." Jeter (Benvolio), James Konicek (Escalus), Rakeem Laurence (Apothecary), Alex Mickiewicz (Tybalt), Emily Townley (Lady Montague), Andrew Veenstra (Romeo), Gregory Wooddell (Paris), Ayana Workman (Juliet), Elan Zafir (Sampson), and others.

As the production began, the actor who would speak the prologue was vacuuming the floor of what appeared to be a restaurant or nightclub that had closed for the evening. Tables and chairs were scattered around the stage, and the entire set, on two levels, was painted a deep red. A tall narrow structure, like a tower, stood upstage center with a door, at stage level, on either side. Two balconies were fixed above the doors, each enclosed by a wooden balustrade. A large mirror, serving as the front wall of the tower, became transparent from time to time revealing the DJ at Capulet's feast, a statue of the Virgin in Friar Lawrence's cell, a funerary monument in the Capulets' tomb, and—at the end of 3.1, just before the interval—Juliet. Except for the mirror, the set remained unchanged throughout the production, even for the outdoor scenes.

The costumes were also contemporary. Capulet's men were dressed in black suits and dark ties, suggesting, initially at least, members of an organized crime family. Benvolio wore a tuxedo with short pants and Mercutio a silver lamé suit and blue suede loafers at Capulet's feast, while Juliet kept on for the rest of the play the bloody, hooded sweat-shirt Romeo left with her when he fled to Mantua. The Prince, also dressed in a suit, fired a pistol into the air to put an end to the first brawl.

Although the set contained two balconies, neither was initially used for the "balcony scene." Rather, the scene began on the lower level among the tables, couches, and chairs left behind from Capulet's feast. It was a comic scene, with Romeo and Juliet dashing and darting among the furniture and Juliet at one point pushing Romeo off a couch to resist his advances. After she had left him for the first time, Juliet, at "three words, dear Romeo" (2.1.184), finally appeared on the balcony, and Romeo climbed up to kiss her.

The production paid particular attention to Lady Capulet and her shifting relationship with her husband. In the early scene with Juliet and the Nurse, she fixed herself a drink and then put on her jewelry in preparation for the feast. She twice kissed Capulet (happily, it seemed) during the festivities. After Capulet slapped Tybalt during their argument, she distracted Tybalt, took him aside as if to protect him, and then walked him off the stage. During the balcony scene, she entered to fix another drink at a bar on the far right, forcing Romeo and Juliet to hide until she exited. At the end of 3.1, after Tybalt had been killed, she was given time to look across the stage to Lady Montague.

As Capulet made his "desperate tender" to Paris (3.4.12), Lady Capulet turned away from them, uncommitted to the proposal; when Capulet approached her, she walked off the stage alone. The scene ended with Capulet seated center stage and Lady Capulet sitting above him, leaning against the tower, alone on the floor of the left-hand balcony, perhaps suggesting some parallel to Romeo and Juliet. Lady Capulet remained seated on the floor of the balcony as Romeo and Juliet parted, and while she continued to suggest reservations about the marriage in 3.5 and intervened to protect the Nurse, Juliet's reference to "that dim monument where Tybalt lies" (3...