by Kat Bradfield
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” will be shown in a new light as Capital’s Theater Department presents “…and Juliet,” Thursday, Feb. 13, to Sunday, Feb. 16.
Curtains will rise at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Cabaret Theater, located in the basement of the Student Union. The show is free for anyone with a Capital University ID.
“We do recommend reservations,” Dr. Bill Kennedy, the show’s director, said. “It’s a small space, and when it’s full there is nothing we can do about it. For this show we’re seating about 80.”
Whether people see the original story as a classic or a bore, they may be very interested in heading out for this production. In attempts to make it new, the show has quite a twist.
“It’s Romeo and Juliet, but we have altered it a bit,” Kennedy said. “It’s in Shakespeare’s language, but it’s set in New Orleans, and probably the major change is that Romeo and Juliet are the same gender.”
“When I was wrestling with [what to do] the students had said they wanted to do Shakespeare, and we hadn’t done Romeo and Juliet yet,” Kennedy said. “The problem I have always had with the many productions I have heard about is the whole thing centers on the feud between the two families, and how do you make that relevant? Why should students care about that?”
His solution was to create a world in which the two tragic lovers, as well as many more traditionally male roles, will be being played by women.
“I was trying to think of an issue that is relevant now that might cause family furor and I thought, well, gender issues or homosexuality and things like that could cause some problems in families and cause a little more resonance.”
Kim Mollett and Abby Worden star as Romeo and Juliet in the play.
“As a Lesbian, I found the twist of the story, making many of the characters female, thus creating a homosexual relationship, to be closely connected to my personal experience,” Mollett, who is playing Romeo, said.
Mollett believes both gay and straight members of the audience will also be able to relate to the story.
“The fact that these two people meet, fall in love, hide the truth from those who disapprove, but still seek the truth of the happiness they share is what all people, homosexual or not, experience,” Mollett said.
Despite the clearly big message in the play, both Kennedy and Mollett stress not to focus on that as the only thing which should be looked at or thought of.
“Shakespeare is a real challenge, as anyone who’s even gone through high school knows.” Kennedy said, “It’s a challenge just to read the plays for some, and when you’re asking students, some who haven’t been in a lot of plays, to take on Shakespeare, it’s quite a challenge.”
If the challenge of the language and the intrigue of the adaptation were not enough to draw in an audience, Kennedy says, “We’ve added some background music that we have people singing, and there’s three or four major fights in the show. We brought in a fight choreographer, so we have some students learning how to do stage combat.”
“The sole purpose of our production was not just to make waves,” Mollett said. “This show was put together to showcase creativity and talent within our Theatre Department. This production is being used to challenge our ability to perform as well as our ability to understand the original text. To make the issue of ‘forbidden love’ relevant to our time period, making the main characters homosexual was one step in connecting the audience to the power of the story.”
Even though it may just be one step, it’s hard to think these gender changes won’t be the main focus of many who watch the play, and though those within the production see a much bigger picture, they also understand this.
“I certainly feel that the action of the story can characterize what it means to struggle in love for all people,” Mollett said. “I am very excited for the student body and all those who are outside of our community to see it; I think it shows that love and the people who share it are all the same. Throughout time, love and hope have not changed, and we work to show this through the story of Romeo and Juliet. I think it can open society, or at least those who see our production, up to the idea that my love is no different than theirs.”
For those without Capital IDs, tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors. Please keep in mind the show is inappropriate for children. The box office number to reserve seats is 7174.
kbradfield@capital.edu
