Violent Delights

REVIEW: Arden Theatre Co.'s Romeo and Juliet

by Mark Cofta

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Published: Mar 9, 2010

Mark Garvin TAKE A STAB AT IT: Evan Jonigkeit exemplifies teen angst as lovelorn Romeo in Arden Theatre Co.'s production of Romeo and Juliet.

Matt Pfeiffer wants you to know that Romeo and Juliet is a play.

So does William Shakespeare, who penned a prologue explaining the story. At Arden Theatre Co., director Pfeiffer splits that speech among his entire cast, who recite it to an audience still in house light.

Then he skips dialogue to thrust us into brutal, high-speed combat between warring clans, the Capulets and the Montagues, underscored by James Sugg's throbbing music, and we're instantly involved in the timeless tragedy.

We're reminded again and again that this is a play, as when Pfeiffer splices several scene s with cinematic quick cuts, but it proves an advantage, not a limitation, propelling the action forward.

Pfeiffer's version flags occasionally — when Evan Jonigkeit's skinny-jeaned Romeo stoops to "modern" stumbling and mumbling — but the sleek production highlights passion. Jonigkeit and Mahira Kakkar are convincing teenage lovers, illustrated by Romeo's lust for the unseen Rosaline, dumped the second he sees Kakkar's gawky yet graceful Juliet enchanted by suitor Paris (Matt Lorenz). Believably immature, they fall undeniably in love, becoming instant adults.

Some might find Brian Sidney Bembridge's wood-and-steel set plain, but it echoes Shakespeare's Globe Theatre thrust stage well. Thom Weaver's naked lighting instruments likewise stress theatricality, but conjure such beauty that no one could mind. Rosemarie McKelvey's costumes subtly color-code the families in a contemporary casual look — just as Shakespeare's actors would have worn everyday clothes.

This Romeo and Juliet's thrills, though, lie with the color-blind (i.e., a random spectrum of ethnicity) supporting cast. Scott Greer makes Juliet's father fascinatingly brutal (not unlike Tony Soprano), and while Shakespeare gives Frank X little to work with as Romeo's dad, he shines as the Capulets' comedic servant, Peter, a role often thrown away. Shawn Fagan and James William Ijames play Romeo's chums with gleeful abandon, and Anthony Lawton brings welcome gravity to Friar Laurence. Brian Anthony Wilson might seem wasted as the Prince, but he makes this small role vital.

Unforgettable, though, are choreographer Dale Anthony Girard's fights. Sporting a variety of weapons (knives, swords, clubs, jackets), Fagan and Sean Lally as Tybalt battle with harrowing ferocity and seeming abandon.

Verona's trappings might be dulled in set and costumes, but what really matters — love and hate, life and death — is vividly real.

Through April 11, $31-$48, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. Second St., 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org.

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