Theatre: “Romeo and Juliet @ Shakespeare in the Park
How do we love “Romeo and Juliet?” Let us count the ways. Candidly, it would take eons to tally up the various stage and cinematic productions of this star-crossed romance, since it was first performed in 1597.
The Public Theatre has produced its own share of R&Js. The current production at the Delacorte—aka Shakespeare in the Park—is their latest.
First, the leads: young Ra’mya Latish Aiken plays the fair Juliet with panache, and Daniel Bravo Hernandez makes a funny and highly excitable Romeo. Shakespeare wrote the characters as teenagers, and that’s exactly how they’re played. Despite their youth, their talents are not to be underestimated.
An interesting take offered here is that Romeo and Juliet perform many of the critical scenes in Spanish—without subtitles. Speaking passionately in a romance language seems quite natural. You already know that “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”
Not everyone speaks Spanish. Francis Jue (“Yellow Face”) plays Friar Laurence with wit and sympathy. The honey-voiced Deidre O’Connell gives a down-home performance as the Nurse.
As for the other major roles, LaChanze is splendid as Lady Capulet, Joshua Eberhardt is an acrobatic Mercutio, and Ariya Kaseem adds his own fire to the role of the fiery Tybalt.
It wouldn’t be a proper SITP production without relevance. Hence, a wall has been built on stage, symbolizing the division beteeen the Montagues and Capulets—but it’s really a ringer for the US-Mexico wall. Security guards wear ICE-like uniforms, and you intermittently see searchlights and hear helicopters in the distance.
In short, this production offers a great start to another summer of SITP. And what better way to usher in summer than to send your audience home boogying to a tune by Bad Bunny. Hasta luego.
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