Tasha Lewis | Phoenix Staff

Andrew VanBuren (left) and Natan Potler in “Romeo and Juliet”

BY ALEX HO

In print | Published April 16, 2009 — Updated April 17, 2009 15:55

The wave of Shakespeare love this semester continues with “Romeo and Juliet,” the Honors Directing Thesis of Jackie Avitabile ’09 and Honors Lighting Design Thesis by Cara Arcuni ’09. But, to enjoy the bard’s most famous play, audiences will first have to descend into the crypts and catacombs that house the deceased. The moment one sets foot into the Frear, the ethereal sound design by Nick Kourtides and set, designed by Brian Grace-Duff and strewn with skulls and bodies, make very clear that death is on the mind of Avitabile.

Death also manifests itself in the unique casting arrangement of this telling of two star-crossed lovers. Only six actors — Judy Browngoehl ’09, Tayarisha Poe ’12, Natan Vega Potler ’11, Miriam Rich ’11, Isa St. Clair ’11 and Andrew VanBuren ’10 – embody all of the play’s 19 roles. For St. Clair, the surreal effect of having the same actor playing several roles brings to consciousness the theatricality of the piece. St. Clair said, “You’ll see an actor die as one character and then come back as another character.” It’s a technique that draws scintillating parallel between theater and mortality. Rich said, “Instead of pretending that we’re different people and that we’re not double casting, there are little moments where there are sort of echoes of acknowledgement.” The casting of Poe as both Juliet and Tybalt, brings new meaning to a scene for Rich, playing the nurse. “When I’m telling Juliet that Tybalt is dead, one of the things I do internally is, when I say Tybalt, for a minute, I see Tybalt’s face which is the same face as Juliet’s,” Rich said.

But the play isn’t all heady theorizing. As Potler notes, “Romeo and Juliet” has its moments of levity that Avitabile made sure to play up. Potler, who plays Mercutio, curiously in a Boy Scouts uniform, said, “Mercutio is kind of supposed to be a … joker, so … pushing the envelope of where the comedy goes too far is definitely something that he does in the play and the text and something that we try to do as well … I think that Jackie captured that pretty well.” For Avitabile, th play’s liveliness ironically led her to this death-themed interpretation. “Just thinking about the play and what it’s always meant to me, it’s a tragedy but, until the end, it’s all about embracing life and celebration and there’s so much fun and so much comedy in it.” Avitabile drew inspiration from the holiday of the Day of the Dead. “For me, it seems like a celebration of life in the face of death,” she said.

Both the director and the cast give much of the credit to the crew. Avitabile said, “It’s a really design-heavy show in a really good way.” The play features a set straight out of Super Smash Brothers that gives the play a tremendous sense of verticality and has the cast excited. “There’s so many great levels to play on. It’s a really fun set to work with,” St. Clair said. For St. Clair, the set also complements the show’s meditation on mortality. “Even when we’re on the same set in this theater space, we can’t necessarily interact because maybe we’re in different worlds or in different spaces,” she said.

This sense of division manifests itself further in the lighting design by Arcuni, which only spotlights certain sections while leaving the rest of the set in the dark. Arcuni, traditionally an actor, found lighting to be a new and challenging experience. Arcuni said, “It’s made me more aware of what is good in acting because you get such a different [perspective] … not just looking for directorial or acting things.”

The show also intends to engage its audience aurally. “Sound design isn’t always the first thing you think of in what makes the show great,” Rich said, “but I think sound is going to be huge for this one.” Designed by Nick Kourtides, the soundtrack seems an unlikely clash of everything from tango to Isaac Hayes to unidentifiable gasps and murmurs. The use of voice-overs to transition into scenes is yet another of the show’s many distancing effects.

Although the worlds of the living and the dead were constant preoccupations for Avitabile throughout the development of the production, finally rehearsing the play in the Frear has breathed new life into the well-worn text, to extend the metaphor. Even Avitabile has not foreseen some of the directions that the play has taken. “I think we’re all sort of understanding what this play means now that we’re putting it together,” Avitabile said.

“Romeo and Juliet” will be shown on April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. and April 19 at 2 p.m. in the Frear.

« RETURN TO LIVING & ARTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »