Imagine a world where Catholic schoolboys just becoming aware of their sexuality and sexual identity choose to spend their off-hours reading and privately performing Shakespeare rather than playing sports or locking themselves in the bathroom with pornography. Improbable? Absolutely. But it's the world in which Shakespeare's R+J, playwright Joe Calarco's adaptation of what is possibly the world's most famous love story, is set.

And produced by Mauckingbird Theatre Company under the direction of Peter Reynolds, it's a world that, at least initially, works. Using little other than a chest, two stage cubes, and a long red shawl, the cast of four (Evan Jonigkeit, Conrad Ricamora, Newton Buchanan, and Nicholas Park) takes on the entire cast (more or less) of the original. As the first half of the show progresses, they watch each other, chiming in to help the action of the play move forward, essentially cutting out the boring parts and keeping audience and actors alike engaged. Although each actor plays multiple characters, some prove more memorable than others here: Newton Buchanan's Lady Capulet and Nicholas Park's Nurse were my favorites by a long shot. The subtext here—that we're not just watching Romeo and Juliet, but that we're also watching adolescent boys come of age and explore their sexuality through the play—takes a comfortable backseat to the action at hand: never forgotten, but still not overwhelming.

But as interesting and involved as the first half of the play is, the second half was equally passive and un-engaged. Where the actors previously watched each other and interacted with each other, the pivotal moment in the show (Tybalt's slaying and Romeo's banishment) proved a marked turning point in this: backs turned, the actors consciously and obviously ignored the action onstage, only becoming involved with the action when the script called for it. Whether the director's choice or the author's stage directions, the show ultimately feels uneven because of this marked distinction between its two halves.

In the end, Shakespeare's R+J is an interesting, well-acted production, and one well worth seeing, if only for the novelty factor. But expect a theatre experience that won't leave you fully satisfied—of course, considering its source material, it's a marked improvement.

Photo: Evan Jonigkeit and Conrad Ricamora in the Mauckingbird Theatre Company production of Shakespeare's R+J. Photograph by Jill McCorkel.