Two young lovers, two warring families and a tale of ill-fated love, heartbreak and death: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has been performed, filmed, transformed and reinvented so many times that it is pretty damn near impossible to find a person who hasn’t encountered the classic tragedy in some form or another. The play has been reborn yet again on Broadway in the hands of five-time Tony-nominated director David Leveaux.
In the classic story, two families in Verona, Italy—the Montagues and the Capulets—are in the midst of a violent feud. At the beginning of the play, Romeo, a Montague, is heartbroken because of his infatuation with a girl named Rosaline, a Capulet. Romeo secretly attends a Capulet ball in the hopes of meeting Rosaline, but instead, he meets Juliet, another Capulet, and the two immediately fall in love.
The next day, the two are secretly married, but things turn sour when Romeo is drawn into a fight with Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and kills him. As punishment for his crime, Romeo is exiled from Verona. Juliet’s parents, unaware that their daughter has secretly married the enemy, arrange for her to marry Count Paris. Juliet seeks the help of a friar, who gives her a drug that will put her into a temporary coma to fool her family members into thinking she has died. The friar offers to send a messenger to tell Romeo about the plan so that the lovers can be reunited after the announcement of Juliet’s “death.” However, the messenger never delivers the message. Romeo discovers the incapacitated Juliet in the tomb and, assuming she has actually died, drinks poison to join her in death. Juliet wakes up shortly after to find her dead lover, takes his dagger and kills herself.
This “Romeo and Juliet,” starring Orlando Bloom (“The Lord of the Rings,” “Pirates of the Caribbean”) and Condola Rashad (“The Trip to Bountiful”), provides an edgier, more urban take on the play. Details such as the graffiti-covered wall in the background and the costumes of the characters emphasize the vitality of youth in the play—and for good reason. “Romeo and Juliet,” while frequently lauded as a classic tale of romance and tragedy, is also simply a tale of foolish, reckless youth. The two protagonists are so quick to light the embers of their passion that they both get consumed by the flames—a fate that is constantly alluded to by the use of darkness and fire on the stage.
Rashad, who plays the 13-year-old Juliet, does a fabulous job at bringing this innocent, youthful energy to the stage. Wearing a simple, virginal white dress in her first scene, Rashad’s Juliet bounds across the stage without a care in the world, full of the naivety, drama, silliness and snark of a young girl. Rashad doesn’t just act as the lovelorn female; she understands the drama and humor of Juliet’s character and acts out Juliet’s dramatic teenage love with such sincerity so as to make the character more sympathetic and the ultimate conclusion more tragic.
Bloom, 36, who makes his Broadway debut in this play, drives out onto the stage in a motorcycle—quite superfluously and clumsily, I might add—and doesn’t seem to understand more than a high school SparkNotes version of the character. Bloom succeeds only in looking like a man trying to play the part of Romeo, rather than Romeo himself.
Still, there were plenty of actors who were delightful in their parts. Jayne Houdyshell, as the Capulets’ comical, judgmental nurse, is a pleasure to watch. Chuck Cooper and Roslyn Ruff, as Lord and Lady Capulet, exhibit an electric stage presence and strong aura of regality as the rulers of the Capulet house. Christian Camargo’s Mercutio, the witty (and also ill-fated) friend of Romeo, is likable, flamboyant and familiar—a mischievous, fun-loving guy who parties and jokes about sex.
While the romance of the two lovers is certainly at the forefront of the action of the play, this production does not forget about its other elements. The humor is preserved and presented in the dialogue of characters like the nurse and Mercutio. The innocent love of the characters also belies an intense sexuality, which is hinted at through jokes made by Mercutio and Benvolio and is referenced by the nurse and Juliet’s father when they bring up the matter of Juliet’s virginity plainly and through metaphor.
Of course, one central aspect of this production in particular is the interracial relationship between this Romeo and Juliet. While certainly not written in the text, this new reading of the play makes sense and instills in it a bit of cultural history that further emphasizes this text’s ability to remain relevant today.
“Romeo and Juliet” is now playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226. W. 46th St. For tickets, call 800-982-2787 or visit ticketmaster.com.