The American Players Theatre visited the Memorial Union Oct. 26 and 27 with their production of William Shakespeare's incomparably tragic play "Romeo and Juliet." To undertake such a heatedly visceral and widely performed work presents problematic issues. How do you capture the piercing soul and grand subtleties of this tale, written by a mind of towering creativity, with adequate emotion in a mere three hours? Also, is it possible to convincingly depict fresh interpretations of the play and transcend the bounds of simple stock productions?
Directed by David Frank, the American Players Theatre performance of "Romeo and Juliet" struggled with such built-in impediments. It never manifested the searing tragedy of the two star-crossed lovers and, consequently, was only a partially realized rendition, captivating at strides but all too sophomoric at its center.
The root of its errancy lay largely with Shawn Fagan's performance as Romeo. It was not short on passion or heart but, on the contrary, veered into overacted, over-thought extremes. Fagan displayed an awareness of Romeo's impetuous constitution but stamped it with a glazed, befuddled disposition and an awkwardly trembling delivery. It almost came off as a conventional interpretation of Romeo viewed through a Hamlet-oriented lens — an unworkable clash of the blatantly obvious and a dramatically wrangled psyche.
This shortcoming stunted the development of the vivid, tangible love between Romeo and Juliet and, thus, upended its tragic payoff.
Leah Curney's take on Juliet did not stray from orthodox approach but was far more human and varied in its sense of elation and anguish. As with Romeo's, the character arc of Juliet demanded an array of deep sentiment, highlighted by swings from gleeful bliss to volatility. But Shakespeare deliberately wrote her as Romeo's superior in depth and language. Curney grasped this, delivered it passably but still could not gloss over the play's unfeeling and amiss notes of tragedy.
The production best delivered, strangely and ominously, with its moments of overt humor and brash showmanship. Juliet's anonymous Nurse, played with pitch-perfect levity and sorrow by Tracy Michelle Arnold, was the play's dominant standout. Her verbose dialogue and spate of unknowing faux pas comically militated against a sense of onrushing doom that the play never engagingly evoked. It's troublesome to a tragic production's aspirations when a character of foil and breezy offense more thoroughly occupies your senses than one or both of the leads. But her presence, especially the interplay she carried on with Juliet, presented a delightful distraction from the play's graver failings.
The same can be said of Mercutio, Romeo's dear companion. His scene-stealing braggadocio ran through all the lively physicality, rapid-fire wit, and sneering glances of the character, in particular towards the villainous Tybalt and Juliet's Nurse. But, again, Mercutio should have been remembered as an occasionally diverting member of the periphery, not someone of lasting theatric impact.
Despite its conventional approach, the American Players Theatre offered slight variations from Shakespeare's play that amounted to subtle nods at freshness and vitality. For instance, the prince did not deliver his introductory sonnet until after the initial spat between the Montagues and Capulets — a superb detail that seemed more organic than the play's actual opening. Furthermore, the scene which depicted Juliet's second, ecstatic soliloquy occurring simultaneously with the mourning of Tybalt's murder was a brilliant inter-cut of bold contrasts. It's unfortunate that such adornments were applied to a troubled cause — convincing the audience of a genuine sense of shattering tragedy.
All the technicalities were accounted for and skillfully in place. The costumes were handsome, but not overly lavish. The naked set, consisting only of a stairway with a railed-in landing, was utilized with impressive range. But the play did not make you come to dread the ending or shudder at its potent tragedy. If that fails, all else is marred. The American Players Theatre rendition of "Romeo and Juliet" ultimately was not lacking in heart but it could not channel Shakespeare's painful linkage of love and tragedy.
