I’m not a big Shakespeare fan, I’ll admit it.  While a production like Peter Hall’s
As You Like It at the Ahmanson a few years back, or anything by Independent
Shakespeare or A Noise Within can impress me with its acting and staging, I
find Shakespeare’s language hard to follow.  To put it bluntly, I tune out. 

That’s why the Chance Theater’s brilliant Orange County premiere of Joe
Calarco’s adaptation of “Shakespeare’s R & J” comes as such a thrilling
surprise to me. 

Never before have I been as enthralled by a Shakespeare play; never before
have his words been as engrossing or the language seemed more
contemporary.

For…as you will soon see, R & J is not your typical Romeo and Juliet. 

Unlike most Shakespeare productions which try to be different by setting the
play in a new era (which usually means just different costume choices), R & J
uses the text of Romeo and Juliet to create a brand new play.

Four uniformed Catholic high school boys escape from school with a copy of
Romeo and Juliet.  It is clear from their words (the 5% of the script that’s not
Shakespeare) that their school environment is repressive, sexist, and a bloody
bore.  Suddenly they begin to read Shakespeare’s words.  For the two boys
who become Romeo and Juliet, this is not only a way to break free from the
rigidity of school life but a way to express romantic and sexual feelings they
have repressed.  As the New York Times so aptly put it, “like teen-agers in the
back of a movie theater, they see it as a make-out opportunity.”

Patricia Ansuini has done an exceptional job of directing R & J. I’m not sure
how many of the brilliant touches are hers, or come from Calarco’s script (he
has directed five major productions of the play), but it would appear that her
skilled and inventive hand is everywhere in the staging. Four black straight-
backed chairs are moved by the actors with drill squad precision throughout
the play, becoming as much a part of the sound design as Dave Mickey’s fine
contributions. The characters are up and down ladders so often that only
young actors in very good shape could have been cast in these roles, which
also require several fights and all around physicality.  As much a character as
any Shakespeare created is the 9’ x 2’ deep red brocaded cloth which takes
the place of swords and vials of poisons (among other props), becomes a part
of characters' costumes, and links Romeo and Juliet from their first meeting to
their tragic demise.

There can’t be four luckier or more talented young actors in all of Orange
County than the four Ansuini has cast as her schoolboys. What an amazing
variety of roles for them to play! Brett Mack makes an impressive West Coast
debut as Mercutio, Lady Capulet and Friar Laurence, and an excellent
Gregory Spradlin couldn’t have gotten two more different roles to play than
Tybalt and Juliet’s nurse (he has fun with that one!). Michael Irish tops his
award worthy work in last spring’s Biloxi Blues with an intense and impassioned
turn as Romeo. Finally, there is the absolutely exquisite work of Carlos Campos
as Juliet. Eschewing any attempt at a girl’s voice, Campos perfectly captures
Juliet’s loveliness and the joy of first love. Irish and Campos are heartbreakingly
beautiful in their love scenes, and deserve the highest praise for their
commitment to making these scenes so very real.

John Robinson’s simple set design (used also for the main stage production of
Sunday in the Park with George) works very well. Martin Noyes’ skill as a fight
director is very much on display.  Bonnie  Robinson Cherrie has created realistic
uniforms for the boys to wear. And Masako Tobaru’s superbly subtle lighting
design (watch for the sunrise) is as much a part of the scenic design as is the
set itself.

There is one unforgettable moment in the play that epitomizes the ingenuity
and impact of R & J. It has come time for Romeo and Juliet to exchange their
wedding vows, and suddenly homophobia raises its ugly head.  The other two
boys rebel, one of them grabbing the book and tearing pages out. But Romeo
and Juliet are not to be prevented from declaring their love, and the way the
two boy students find to do this in Shakespeare’s own words is a joy to behold.

That the Chance Theater has chosen such daring (for Orange County)
material is proof of their motto, “The Art is in the Chance.”  That an older and
mostly hetero opening night audience could watch a story of two boys in love
(and probably see for the first time two boys exchanging passionate kisses)
and pretty much not bat an eye is testimony to the progress we’ve made
towards becoming a more open-minded and accepting society in the past
ten years. That Ansuini and her marvelous cast have pulled all of this off is
good news indeed for Orange County audiences, and anyone in L.A. with the
good sense to drive down to Anaheim and savor this triumphant piece of
theater.

CHANCE THEATER,  5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 
(714) 777-3033 Aug. 12 - Sep. 16   Sat. 4pm; Sun. 6pm

--Steven Stanley