Casting real-life highschoolers as the world’s most iconic pair of lovestruck teens is just one reason Theatricum Botanicum’s Romeo And Juliet feels fresh and new. So is setting the classic tale of doomed adolescent lovers in Gilded Age New York.

What hasn’t changed a bit are the play’s major plot points, and the fact that out of all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, this one is probably the easiest to follow, even for those who tend to find themselves lost once characters start spouting “thees” and “thous” and “speakests” and “speakeths.”

We’ve still got a couple of feuding families, a boy from one of them falling for a girl from the other, a secret wedding less than 24 hours after the couple’s first meeting, and a plan to escape from both their families that goes awry and leads to …

You probably already know the rest, but don’t let that stop you from re-experiencing Romeo and Juliet outdoors amidst the tree-covered Santa Monica Mountains.

Quinnlyn Scheppner makes a stunning Theatricum Botanicum return following 2024’s Wendy’s Peter Pan as Gilded Age heiress Juliet Callahan opposite Asher Hagler’s scrappy working-class teen Romeo Mulligan, separated not only by class but by an “ancient grudge” that has made the superrich Callahans and the not-so-well-off Mulligans sworn enemies, though director Willow Geer leaves it up to us to figure out how this might have come about and also how a family surnamed Callahan became the equal of the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and the Rockefellers.

Whatever the reasons for all of the above, it’s clear from the play-opening skirmish that has the Callahans wielding swords and the Mulligans fighting back with streets-of-NYC-style knives that these two families come from opposite sides of the tracks, all of which adds some Rose-and-Jack-like class conflict to the Shakespearean mix.

A time-and-place change certain to appeal to fans of the smash HBO series The Gilded Age also lets costume designer A. Jeffrey Schoenfeld give the Callahans some gorgeous mid-1880s women’s gowns and men’s finery to sport while garbing the Mulligans in attire likely to be seen concurrently on the mean streets of New York.

Longtime Theatricum Botanicum fans will relish the chance to see TB legend Ellen Geer once again commanding the stage as Juliet’s devoted if somewhat dotty Nurse and longtime Botanicum favorite Max Lawrence doing powerhouse work as his 19th-century namesake Father Lawrence.

 A dazzling Rhett Curry’s magnetic, mercurial Mercutio stands out among the cast’s younger contingent, and never more stunningly than in a Queen Mab monolog that that had me wanting to shout out, “Get thee to a therapist,” and understudy Ethan Haslam is a grown-up standout as Juliet’s decidedly volatile father.

David Benne (Tybalt), Jesse Corwin (Benvolio), understudy Tomás François (Paris), Michelle Jasso (Lady Callahan), Ethan Ricks (Balthasar), Shane McDermott (Father John), and Franc Ross (Magistrate) all acquit themselves admirably in smaller roles, with Luke Bolle (Gregory), Cole Dechant (Peter), Estrella Garcia-Starr (Georgina), Brooke Heatley (Lady Mulligan), Michelle Merring (Apothecary), Christopher Miles (Sampson), Elijah Reyes (Abraham), and Billy Walker (Mulligan) adding their own contributions to the production’s success as do Hannah Barlow, Asher Edwards (Page), Kiley Fallon, and Abbs Stoiber.

Still, there wouldn’t be a Romeo and Juliet without the play’s title characters, and at a time when TV audiences in particular are expected to accept even 30something actors as teens, it’s refreshing if not downright revolutionary to see the equally stunning and revelatory Hagler and Scheppner play more or less their own age as pair of impetuous, volatile teenagers with dangerously little sense of the consequences of their actions.

Last but not least, Calvin (CR) Mohrhardt’s gifts as Theatricum Botanicum’s master fight choreographer are once again on full display here as are those of lighting designer Geoff Barton, properties master Shoshanna Green, and sound designer Irene Silbert.

Natalia Jofre is assistant director. Isabel Stallings is intimacy coordinator. Karen Osborne is stage manager and Amaya Watson is assistant stage manager. Beth Eslick is wardrobe supervisor and Sky Wahl is costume assistant. Lucy Pollak is publicist.

Tales of forbidden love, doomed or otherwise, may be a dime a dozen these days, but there’s nothing quite like re-experiencing the one that started it all under Topanga skies, and with Asher Hagler and Quinnlyn Scheppner making indelible impressions in the title roles, this is one Romeo and Juliet you won’t want to miss.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Through October 10. See website for performance dates and times.
www.theatricum.com

–Steven Stanley
July 5, 2026
Photos: Ian Flanders

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