[ssba]
Romeo and Juliet
Reviewed by Jessica Salans
Independent Shakespeare Company in Griffith Park
Through July 26
RECOMMENDED:
In the Prologue-sonnet of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we learn in its second quatrain that the star-crossed lovers — a phrase here which means two sets of parents who can’t get over their ancient grudge to let their teenage son and daughter hang out — take their life. The plot may be a given but Melissa Chalsma, director of this alfresco production in Griffith Park, imbeds the classic tale with surprises, leaving the audience laughing and spellbound until the pitiful end.
If you have never attended an Independent Shakespeare Company show at Griffith Park, this is an exciting one. Andre Martin does a splendid job as Mercutio, inviting the audience to partake in the action in a pre-show curtain speech filled with feisty humor. A rock band called “The Lively Helenas” made up of David Melville, William Elsman, Jack Lancaster and Ashley Nguyen provide the show’s soundtrack, sparking a raucous swordfight at the beginning of the play, and helping to convey the feuding households.
Chalsma’s company is sound, filled with hearty and sometimes exquisite performances. We meet Benvolio, played by a tenacious Mary Goodchild, who chides her cousin Romeo for lamenting his heart’s love loss, Rosalind. (This is before he runs into Juliet.) Nikhil Pai, Goodchild and Martin make for a saucy, rebellious trio of friends. Martin continues his role of trickster, interacting with the audience, winning us with cheekiness. Pai is endearing in his heartache as Romeo, so in love with love, as if he enjoys his heart being crushed.
Juliet is not yet 14, the play reminds us over and over again and it is perhaps a bit overstated in this production, where Juliet is dressed in Barbie pinks and frilly dresses, however Erika Soto’s performance is anything but overstated. Soto fully encapsulates a young, fidgety, excitable girl in her first scene and has a fully realized performance by Juliet’s death. In Chalsma’s staging, giddiness often replaces solemnity, rash words and startled grins stand in for lamenting frowns that so often populate productions of this play. In the title roles, Pai and Soto give nuanced, mature performances, allowing for the immaturity of budding love to blossom.
ISC’s Managing Director David Melville, gives another refreshing performance as Friar Laurence, bringing comedy to scenes usually cloaked in grave ceremony. Bernadette Sullivan is also very enjoyable as Juliet’s Nurse, with youthful sass and class. Sean Pritchett and Aisha Kabia as Lord and Lady Capulet (Julet’s parents) are heartbreakingly rooted in their roles. One exquisitely affecting scene depicts them abandoning Juliet for not marrying the Count Paris. Pritchett’s Capulet disowns his daughter, becoming violent toward the three women in the room. Shortly after, when Soto’s Juliet pleads for her mother’s pardon, Kabia turns her back, leaving her daughter’s crumpled form to be comforted by the Nurse.
This powerful storytelling is aided by Caitlin Lainoff’s multi-tiered set of plattforms, scaffolds and climbing fixtures. Houri Mahserejian’s costumes place the time in an unspecified modern world that’s dark, elegant and gruff all at once. Songs and score by the band give the show a cinematic quality, especially during Pie and Soto’s pre-coital movement piece, beautifully staged by Chalsma. Bosco Flannagan’s lighting design allows the audience to feel involved, using the natural light of dusk and then effectively narrowing our focus as darkness envelops the park.
The authenticity and multi-dimensional performances allow this production to reflect our own society, and how we raise our children.
Independent Shakespeare Company at The Old Zoo in Griffith Park. Thurs.-Sun., 7 p.m. (no performance July 4, added perf Wed., July 22, 7p.m.); through July 26; https://www.iscla.org/; Free admission
