Romeo & Juliet, Reviewed

Daunting, tragic, and extremely well acted, Swine Palace’s Romeo and Juliet is a treat for anyone familiar with the tale on paper or film, and is a refreshing accomplishment for those already versed in The Bard’s star-crossed lovers.  

William Shakespeare’s famed tale of love and woe debuted Tuesday night to a receptive crowd in LSU’s Reilly Theatre, home of Swine Palace productions, as part of its Summer Fest series. Adapted and directed by George Judy, head of the MFA acting program at LSU and artistic director of Swine Palace, this Romeo and Juliet stars talented thespians Amar Atkinson and Amanda Clark as the titular characters, who amplify the bitter themes and beautiful poetry of one of the best-known plays in English literature.

Despite the play’s inception more than four hundred years ago, Judy’s unique directorial decisions managed to transform the two-hour-long production into something that captured the attention of even the youngest audience members. More than one little girl could be heard expressing her shock—cupped into a whisper for their parents’ ears—at Juliet’s tragic end in the crypt.

Now and again, characters like Romeo stepped off the ground-level stage and ascended the raised bleachers of the audience, beseeching advice in asides. “Shall I hear more,” Romeo asked a man at the end of one aisle as he listened to Juliet on her balcony, “or shall I speak at this?” Even before the show began, the actors appeared at the edges of rows to hold casual conversations with strangers in the audience, often about Shakespeare himself.

When Joe Morris—in full Friar Lawrence regalia—asked a woman in the front row whether she enjoyed Shakespeare in general, he was met with the reply, “I don’t really read.” He gasped and said he hoped, at least, that the upcoming performance might convince her to change her habits. Given the audience’s vocal reception as the play carried on—a play, mind you, with which most of them are already familiar—I’d say that the Friar’s hope has ample chance of becoming reality.

The audience hummed with more than a few chuckles, for example, at the comic styles of Bacot Wright as the ever-animated Nurse and Colt Neidhardt as the raving, teasing Mercutio, dressed in convincing period costume and diving into point-perfect fight choreography by Neidhardt, Nick Erickson, and Tim Moriarty.

Even minor characters with little to no lines remained active on the stage, constantly adding movement and behavioral nuances invisible in the play’s paper format. Likewise, Atkinson and Clark managed to speak their lines with the convincing intonations of carefree teenagers—something often lost in classroom readings. They present, finally, a Romeo and Juliet with no need for footnotes or scratches in the margin.

To experience the story with actors and audience members alike, purchase tickets from swinepalace.org or at the door. Romeo and Juliet runs July 8—12 at 7:30 pm and July 13 at 2 pm. Also catch The School for Lies July 22—26 at 7:30 pm and July 27 at 2 pm.