Final time I reviewed a Shakespeare play staged by the daring and gifted Sam Gold, I led with a cheeky query about bowls of soup slurped by the ensemble of Macbeth (his invention). I gained’t repeat myself by querying the quite a few fuzzy, pink teddy bears that seem in Gold’s Romeo + Juliet, a hurtling, pop-scored, brat-summer spin on the lover’s tragedy. Anyway, these ursine plushies require no strenuous interpretation: They’re fluffy tokens of childhood, which the teenage characters cling to at the same time as they stumble right into a whirlwind of intercourse and violence.
The stuffed toys spill out of a procuring cart tipped over middle stage within the scenic surroundings devised by the ingenious collective dots. Close by rests an inflatable pink plastic recliner. Later the highest of the round taking part in area will flip up, revealing a discipline of vibrant flowers. Bathed in Isabella Byrd’s throbbing mauve, purple, and blue lights and pounded by EDM beats from an onstage DJ (music by hitmaker Jack Antonoff), Circle within the Sq. turns into a warehouse rave. Propped on a raised platform to at least one facet there’s one more (jumbo-size) teddy bear—its torso the hiding place for contraband bought by Romeo in a single fateful scene. Enver Chakartash’s costumes vary from glitter-bomb monitor fits to fashionably ratty streetwear. Characters vape, gender is fluid, want bi, and demise assured. Even when the story ends in tears, there’s all the time time for a dance break or karaoke as Juliet serenades the company at a Capulet social gathering with lyrics by no means dreamt of in Shakespeare’s philosophy. “All likelihood / One evening / One option to heaven don’t be late hey.” And a hey-nonny-non to you, J-Cap.
Performed by the English TV hunk Equipment Connor (Heartstopper) Romeo is baby-faced and swole. He wears a see-through mesh tank high that shows a buff, hairless physique (sure, he’s Kenough). As Juliet, Rachel Zegler cuts a petite, gamine determine in varied skirts, crop tops and mother denims. The 23-year-old actress performed Juliet’s descendent, Maria, in Steven Spielberg’s West Aspect Story, however reads as youthful, a reminder that Juliet is just not but 14. Absolutely cognizant of the ruthless requirements of early fashionable England, even Shakespeare permits that the woman’s too younger to be married and bearing kids. (Republicans could conform to disagree.)
Connor is a little bit of a pet and Zegler’s a wiry ferret. The casting emphasizes a facet of Romeo and Juliet which the textual content kind of helps: Romeo as meathead and Juliet as nerd woman with an overactive creativeness. After all, in Shakespeare all people is hyper-poetic after they must be, however because the tragedy runs its course, Romeo tends to behave earlier than considering, and Juliet can let considering get in the way in which of motion. At any charge, Gold’s manufacturing doesn’t push anyone idea apart from the youthquake vibe: they’re children, and the depraved world eats the younger. The hyperpop framing is Gen Z by the use of Baz Luhrmann, who—let’s face it—28 years in the past put an indelible mark on these attractive, mixed-up teenagers. All of them fam within the clerb.
Aside from the Zoomer window dressing, Gold engages in considerate and amusing double casting. Sola Fadiran performs each Capulet and Girl Capulet, neatly distinguishing between the husband and spouse with out overdoing gender stereotypes. Capulet’s offended rant on the recalcitrant Juliet is very terrifying. The completely electrical Tommy Dorfman is a research in opposites as Juliet’s daffy, chatty Nurse and ice-cold killer Tybalt. Gían Pérez takes on varied clown roles, such because the douchey Paris and feckless Peter. The always-stunning Gabby Beans performs each Mercutio and Friar Lawrence with super panache and humor. Each characters suppose they know what’s greatest for Romeo but find yourself hastening his self-destruction. Beans’s Mercutio is an acid-tongued stoner perpetually in shades, whereas the friar is a mild, optimistic soul. She juggles a 3rd character talking Refrain traces and delivering exasperated edicts from the Duke of Verona. The primary act ends as a bloody brawl on a mattress of flowers an alarming juxtaposition of brutality and romance. Choreographer Sonya Tayeh offers the motion her signature mixture of muscularity and abandon. Within the last scene (a bit rushed maybe so Gold might maintain the motion kind of at two hours) Romeo and Juliet die splayed over one another. Their cruciform positioning mirrors the large LED crucifix in opposition to the wall behind the DJ. A fairly tableau, however nothing terribly deep. You possibly can say the identical of different directorial prospers, however they’re simply ignored, because the language is well-delivered and the ensemble interesting. It’s the least boring or cringe Shakespeare I’ve seen in a very long time.
Trying again on his Hamlet, Othello, Lear, Macbeth, I’d say Gold has a combined monitor file with the most important tragedies (be careful, Titus!). This one I’ll keep in mind fondly. Removed from leaving with questions, I exited with new lingo. Capulet totes a plastic gallon jug stuffed with purple liquid. In his last, determined act, Romeo washes down poison powder by swigging from mentioned jug. The merchandise in query is known as a BORG—that’s Black Out Rage Gallon—a boozing hack in style on school campuses. So if you happen to discover middle-aged theater critics casually referring to BORGs, you’ll know the place they received it. Information is energy, children.
Romeo + Juliet | 2hrs 25mins. One intermission. | Circle within the Sq. Theatre | 1633 Broadway | 212-239-6200 | Purchase Tickets Right here
