Gregory Spooner
Culture Writer
St. Patrick’s Day is usually associated with the Irish and green beer. This year, however, we celebrated it with the world’s most famous Englishman… William Shakespeare! When my wife heard that we were going to see Romeo & Juliet, she was somewhat disappointed. “It’s my least favorite Shakespeare play,” she let me know as we hurried into the car on what proved to be a very wet St. Patty’s Day.
On the drive to the theatre, we pondered the question, “What can one do with Shakespeare?” (Or more appropriately, “What hasn’t already been done with Shakespeare?” ) The audience is undoubtedly familiar with the plot (as nearly all of us read it in high school! or at least watched the movie the night before the test!).
Many attempts have been made to modernize, bowdlerize, and/or sensationalize the Bard of Avon. Before we crept up the ivory tower of academia, my wife and I both managed movie theatres, and over the years we took in a potpourri of Shakespeare mash-ups. There was Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 remake which paired Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes; an anachronistic combination of a modern setting and the original, Shakespearean dialogue was a unique twist. Ian McKellen starred as Richard III in a 1995 remake, which hypothesized an alternate history in which 1930s England was a fascist state embroiled in civil war. Even as far back as 1961, Arthur Laurents re-imagined Romeo and Juliet in the streets of New York in West Side Story.
The desire to re-invent Shakespeare is understandable. We’re all too familiar with the plots. The Bard’s language, which sits on the cusp of (indecipherable) Middle English and Early Modern English, is only semi-comprehensible to us today. No wonder so many have reset these timeless plots in other times, places and vernaculars.
So perhaps, with this long tapestry of re-imagining Shakespeare, our misgivings would be justified?
As it turns out, they were not.
With so many attempts to reinvent the Capulets and Montagues, it turns out that everything old is new again. The Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s (LBSC) faithful adaptation of this classic tale is not just everything you expect it to be; it’s much more.
The LBSC’s venue is an intimate setting, seating about 50; the cast takes full advantage of this. The proximity of the actors allows them to perform in a refreshingly realistic and natural manner. Emotions can be conveyed with a raised eyebrow or furtive glance rather than the melodramatic pantomime often necessitated by large theatres. Both my wife and I were struck by how genuine the performances were. Summer Blake and Nathan Dean Snyder played the star-crossed lovers with youthful abandon. Snyder squirms with adolescent exuberance when the balconied Juliet’s soliloquy betrays the object of her desire. Blake’s clandestine glances at Romeo while dancing with others let us know she is first intrigued, then enthralled. In a performance where the archaic vernacular is sometimes challenging, these subtle yet essential cues make the difference between mediocrity and excellence.
In marked contrast to the understated performance of the eponymous couple, Kyle Conley’s Mercutio is a brilliant, over-the-top, dandy, bringing humor and a dynamic presence to his performance. But perhaps the most pleasant surprise was Rebecca Rodriguez’s Nurse, who delivered every line in a convincing, clear and natural style.
There is one disadvantage to the small venue: it utilizes a small cast, with four characters played by only two thespians, which lead to some small confusion in my head. “Wait! the friar is killed in a sword fight?! ! then he comes back to life in the next scene?! [My wife informs me that it is merely the same actor playing two roles.] Ohhh! nevermind!”
Kudos must be given to director Helen Borgers (Yes! of KKJZ fame!) for breathing new life into this production. Her perspective is that this is not just a tragedy of the “impetuosity of youth!. All the other characters in the play stand in the way of the true, ideal love of Romeo and Juliet, and it is they, not the lovers, who behave impulsively and unreasonably.”
The British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “Shakespeare did not write with a view to boring school-children; he wrote to delighting his audiences.” Too often, Shakespeare is delivered to us in a “serious,” somber, stiff, and, well! just plain boring and artificial manner. We must remember that these plays were, in their day, enjoyed by the common folk in an intimate setting. The Bard would be proud to know that, at least in our corner of the world, his tradition continues, and the audience was delighted, indeed.
So what can one do with Shakespeare?
Even today, 500 years later, with a faithful reproduction! one can do a lot.
Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet will play at the Richard Goad Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave., through April 1. All performances are at 8pm except Sunday matinees at 2pm. Tickets are $20 general admission, $10 for students. For tickets and more information, call (562) 997-1494 or visit lbshakespeare.org.
