Broadway review by Adam Feldman
There is a scene of comic relief at the end of the fourth act. romeo and juliet It almost always gets cut. Juliet’s family has just discovered what they believe to be Juliet’s dead body. As the musicians hired for her wedding prepare to depart, the house servant asks them for a paradoxically happy dirge. “Oh, please play a merry dump to comfort me.” In some kind of paper presentation, the servants sing the band Fun’s melancholy 2011 party anthem “We Are Young.” He demanded to be heard and warned, “If you don’t play, I’ll fuck you.” “Fight with you.”
That last line is one of the show’s rare departures from its 16th-century original, but it captures the spirit of Gold’s aggressively aimed Gen Z vision of Shakespeare’s tragedy of family feuds. . It’s not just that “We Are Young” is modern (like the production’s costumes, sets, and attitude) or that this particular song was chosen. This work epitomizes the show’s referential postmodernity. Similar to the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film, the title is styled as follows: romeo + julietlike the graffiti on the toilet stall. That Juliet, Rachel Zegler, is best known for playing a Juliet-inspired character in Steven Spielberg’s films. west side storyThat Romeo, Kit Connor, navigated a story of forbidden love in the Netflix series heart stopper. The song’s lyrics not only evoke both a sense of possibility and a sense of burnout baked into the concept of setting the world on fire and burning brighter than the sun. (“Take him and cut him out like a little star,” says Juliet. “And he will make the face of heaven so beautiful/The whole world will fall in love with the night/And , you don’t have to worship the fancy sun.”)
Romeo + Juliet | Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Murphy
What makes “We Are Young” feel so right is, above all else, its literalness. romeo and juliet Youth is what matters. The Night Clubby set by Design Collective Dot includes inflatable furniture and a shopping cart full of teddy bears. Costumer Enver Chakartaş dresses the cast in track pants, crop tops, and jeans. Remember that Juliet is only 13 years old in this version. Beautiful and petite, Zegler is incredibly adolescent in her excitement and impatience. (She has the romantic rebelliousness of someone who has been guarded all her life.) Connor’s Romeo has the wholesomeness of a delicate jock, with close-cropped hair and a peach-and-cream color. His skin and muscular biceps under the sleeveless top make him look like a man. Russian gymnast — it also means he doesn’t look fully formed. (When he philosophizes, “Love turns to love like a schoolboy from a book/But love casts a heavy gaze from love towards school,” you realize that he himself is not far from school.) It reminds me.)
In fact, there seem to be very few adults in this version of Verona. Just kids vaping, dancing, posing, carrying borgs, and casually interested in queer fluids. In Gold’s adaptation, which credits Michael Sexton and Ayanna Thompson as dramaturgs and script consultants, the warring Montagues and Capulets are almost all teenagers. Romeo’s parents are completely removed from the play, and some of their lines are assigned to younger characters. In most cases, the prince is no different, and his failure to stop the war between the families in the city ends up being partly responsible for the story’s pathetic ending. Juliet’s parents are played by the same actor Sora Fadilan, and most of the other actors have also played multiple roles with varying success. Gabby Beans is convincing as the well-meaning Friar Laurence, but less effective as the pompous Mercutio. Jean Perez effectively portrays Paris, Romeo’s rival, as a nice guy with a creepy underbelly, but it’s not always clear which of his three characters is which. Tommy Dorfman has a fun role as the sassy nurse. “I’m so irritated that every part of me is shaking,” she says, fanning herself, but her role as Tybalt isn’t intimidating enough.
Romeo + Juliet | Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Murphy
If Romeo and Juliet stand out in this film, it’s also because what surrounds them is often blurred. Aside from a few rousing poems by Star-Crossed Stars, it’s Antonoff’s songs that you’re likely to pick up on. It’s no surprise that Romeo falls in love with Juliet when he sees her singing on stage with the charm of a pop idol. Just a moment of beautiful scenery. Connor does pull-ups on a bed floating from the ceiling. A floor that becomes a flower bed when folded. Inside a giant teddy bear, a meth pharmacist hides the deadliest toxin.
Gold’s in-the-round staging makes dynamic use of side areas such as walkways and catwalks above the stage, but the environment it creates is enclosed. Other than this Instagrammable party space, there’s little to Verona or its rules. And ultimately, I think that detracts from the play. It emphasizes the role of simple bad luck in Romeo and Juliet’s fate and detracts from the larger point. The production seems intended to appeal to a TikTok audience that doesn’t know much about the play, which I think is a laudable goal and one that succeeds. But these newcomers may be surprised to discover that what they thought was a tragedy of young people crushed by social constraints was actually the sad story of two kind children who died due to lack of adult supervision. I don’t know.
Romeo + Juliet. The Circle at the Square Theater (Broadway). Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Sam Gold. Starring Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler, Gabby Beans, Tommy Dorfman, Sora Fadilan, and Jean Perez. Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes. 1 break.
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Romeo + Juliet | Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Murphy