This play is often described as "one of the greatest love stories ever told."
Personally, I think that's a load of hooey.
Yes, it's deeply romantic story with sword fights, princes, and magic potions. However, at its core, it is a story of needless and heedless violence enacted on innocent people.
This play isn't beautiful. It can be full of sumptuous costumes, lavish sets, stunning choreography, and the most passionate of moments. All of that, though, is a distraction to what I believe is really at play.
It is ugly, bloody, and a reminder we are still not at our best. It's a play about the incredibly blinding nature of love. It is about a culture of inherited violence. It's about "how we've always done it." It is ultimately a story about who is left behind.
Initially, I had though the world of the play would be meaner, cruel and vicious. I mean, if it's about all those things I listed above, how could it not be? The setting would be a back alley in big city, garbage piled everywhere.
But as we moved into rehearsals, the world became more tender. Love grew like weeds through the cracks in a shattered world. The setting shifted to an attic, filled with relics waiting to be used like one great big sandbox. The characters became softer, filled with insecurity and a deep need to be wanted. The best of intentions driving each choice, hurtling us toward the inevitable conclusion. We do a lot of things in the pursuit of goodness, sometimes doing things that are not good at all.
So, maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe this is one of the greatest love stories ever told. It just doesn't star the people you'd think. It's about the great love between Friar Laurence and Romeo, Juliet and the nurse, Benvolio, Balthasar, Abram, and Mercutio, Capulet and her family, and Paris's for Juliet. It is these connections that are so crucial in the telling of this play.
In the wake of trajedy, it's always us that are still here. You and me and her and him and them, every person in this room today has been around to experience or be near to unimaginable sorrow. We are the ones left behind. We are the ones who tell the stories.
Before you go, here are the stories we're telling today.
Lean forward.
Fall in love and be open to getting hurt.
Do what is right, not what is easy.
And most importantly, don't take it all so seriously.
We hope you enjoy our show and thank you for your endless support of young artists!
-- Hannah Fawcett
Director, Romeo and Juliet
