Thumb Bites and Maidenheads, Post-Apocalyptic Style

I had another "got it" moment with this performance, making me think the secrets of the universe (or at least Shakespeare) may unfold to me if I just see Romeo and Juliet enough times. This time, I sat through half of the first half getting my nerves jangled by Juliet's performance: high pitched, squealing, frantic. Then the light: she's thirteen. She has some Bratz dolls under the bed. Of course she squeals with delight when mama tells her she's to be married off; at thirteen marriage is the height of romance (little do they know...). I have to say I haven't seen a performance that embraced that so fully before, and it was amazing. All of the performers dug in and explored their characters thoroughly and believably; even with the remarkably fast cadence, no one swallowed his/her lines. And, the mark of a truly good show: in many scenes I forgot I was in a theater, watching a play, and instead hung captivated by the story in front of me.

The acting was done very very well; other things, not quite so well. The setting for instance, and what I suppose could be termed the "mission" of the play. In the Notes from the artistic director and the director, both strongly assert that the motivation of doing this play, a "cautionary tale of enmity," stemmed from the violence permeating our world, and the post-apocalyptic setting served as the logical conclusion of our society's current destructive tendencies and technologies. I was fascinated by this idea. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how it was supposed to play out on the stage.

The set mostly consisted of a much-graffitied backdrop, some chain link gates, and some benches. When I first walked in I was reminded of several Godspell productions I've seen, not destructive horror. There was one exception: When the location changed to Frier Lawrence's cell, a collection of dead branches and leaves in a large industrial barrel was placed at center stage. That made sense in the context of the setting; the nature loving Frier (played by the same actor as Tybalt, a deliberately dichotomous piece of casting) collects her herbs and flowers from dead plants.

I suppose my criticism stems less from a deep fault with the production and more from my disappointment that such an interesting premise was not carried out more fully. It is perhaps too much to ask of this troupe that it spend so many resources underlining the external interpretation of the setting; it is, however, too much to ask that the audience fully accept the vision without being given a little more to work with.

As far as a production of the love play goes however, it worked. As mentioned, the actors really engage with their characters and fill them out well; Mercutio is a frat boy, Benvolio a hippie, Tybalt a punk (maybe anarchist?), Nurse shrill. And that's how it should be. This production is definitely worth a look, and if you go in just expecting a captivating and solid rendering of a fearful passage of death-mark'd love, you will not be disappointed.

Marie Howey as Shakespeare's starcrossed Juliet in ROMEO AND JULIET, presented by the Vagabond Acting Troupe June 7 to 24 on the 2nd Stage of the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.