Romeo & Juliet

Reviewed by Deborah Klugman

RECOMMENDED:

The denouement of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well-known in our canon of tragic love stories, but it’s easy to lose track of that unhappy ending in the course of this effervescent adaptation. Filled with movement and music – including violinist Regina Carter and cellist Zoe Keating – the show radiates with energy and humor, and the potent talent of several key players who bring comedy and depth to the familiar story.

Deftly directed by Melissa Chalsma, this collective effort, rendered by a scaled down cast of eight performers, pivots around Erika Soto as Juliet, a beautiful spirited teen on the brink of lovely womanhood. Her Romeo (Nikhil Pai), like many youths, is a bit of a goofball, but the seeds of noble manhood are there. Choreographed by J’aime Morrison-Petronio, whose talent brings fluidity to the piece, the coming together of these two young people on their secret bridal night is one of the show’s most sensual and spellbinding highlights. Indeed, so distracting are these and other joyful elements in the storytelling that even after ominous clouds gather, you almost believe that things will work out for these sweet and guileless lovers.

That they’ve made it to the bedroom results from efforts of Juliet’s plucky protective nurse, brilliantly interpreted by Bernadette Sullivan as a salty domestic with a liking for men. Matching Sullivan’s comic expertise is Andre Martin, whose clownish Mercutio seizes the limelight as a foppish flirt who saucily provokes Tybalt (Evan Lewis Smith) into a fatal duel. (The excellent fight choreography is by David Melville.) Martin also doubles as Lord Capulet, Juliet’s father, whose apoplectic rage when his daughter opposes his marriage plans for her reminds us of the chattel-like status of Renaissance women. Likewise, Lovelle Liquigan displays in her brisk and modish physicality an elegant upper-class woman who has played by the rules, then understands too late how she’s betrayed her daughter.

Not every performer handles the language well, and even the mesmerizing Soto occasionally delivers crucial dialogue with an odd emphasis. Sticklers for classic technique may carp a bit – but it’s nitpicking, really, when you’re reflecting on a production as vital and vivid as this one.

Independent Shakespeare Company, 3191 Casitas Ave. #168, Atwater Village; Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through May 25. (818) 710-6306, www.iscla.org