One Night Only

By Lynn Gifford

The Acting Company proudly announces its 2009-10 national tour of the second co-production with the renowned Guthrie: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Penny Metropulos from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival…”

This is a tough assignment. “Review” a touring play which will have only one performance in town and do it at least a week before the show comes and goes. If it weren’t Shakespeare (from the Guthrie, no less) I think I would have passed.

Their press release says “Star-crossed lovers caught between their feuding families ignite the passion and rage of all Verona as they desperately struggle to build a world insulated from the violence. This Shakespearean tragedy, full of sword fights, masquerade balls, young love and rebellion is universally regarded as the most famous love story of all time.”

Very true. The first review I ever wrote for HPR was for a lovely production of West Side Story at NDSU. It’s the same story: there is street fighting between two gangs, an achingly beautiful young couple fall in love at a dance, then there’s a scene on a balcony, followed by complications including a secret elopement and the death of a family member at the hands of the hero. There are more complications and a tragic end. It’s powerful stuff.

The Acting Company is a national touring group of young, talented actors with great potential and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis is the best regional theatre company in the country. This combination is not to be missed.

Founded in 1972 by John Houseman and current Producing Director Margot Harley with members of the first graduating class of Juilliard’s Drama Division, The Acting Company has performed 133 productions for over 2 million people in 48 states and nine foreign countries.

The Company has given a generation of actors the opportunity to master their craft. Alumni include Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, David Schramm, Jesse L. Martin, Keith David, Lorraine Toussaint, David Ogden Stiers.

I have adored Shakespeare all my life. I got it from my mother. As a child I dearly loved an old, old book, “Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare.”  It belonged to her and it was published in 1907. I still have it. I also have half a dozen other Shakespeare books written for children. They’re supposed to belong to my daughter, but she allows them to stay on my bookshelves.

I remember sitting with my mother to watch Macbeth on an old black-and-white TV. It’s still my favorite play. Before we married, my husband got his first teaching job and acquired a high school English class along with the Art Education he was hired to teach.

Every Friday he drove to Bismarck and my mother and I would cram his head full of Macbeth. Five acts in five weeks. I think it’s why he married me. I remember that we first met backstage—working on a production of Macbeth.

Many years ago (in a previous life) I was a Theatre major and that’s only one small step away from an English major. The first major role I ever played was Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the first professional theatre I ever saw was at the Guthrie. I was transfixed. I was about twenty years old. This was in Minot, North Dakota, a cultural desert in the sixties, and the nearest watering hole was Minneapolis/St.Paul. Each spring for several years we got a weekend (on our own dime) in the Cities to see as much live theatre as we could cram into seventy two hours. I have always seen and done as much Shakespeare as I could find. Hamlet, Othello, Lear, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice . . . I saw and loved them all.

I’ve seen at least three film versions of Romeo & Juliet and a couple of live productions, not to mention having seen/done a dozen productions of West Side Story, and I can’t really review a production I haven’t seen. But I will tell you what I think. This particular production does come with some excellent credentials. The cast features a young local actor, area native Hugh Kennedy. His blossoming theatrical resume includes at the Guthrie: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Government Inspector, A View from the Bridge, A Christmas Carol and Faith Healer.

Hugh’s theatrical education and training are from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA program, Shakespeare’s Globe and London International School of Performing Arts. He was also a 2004 Presidential Scholar of the Arts. He plays Benvolio in this production.

The production’s director, Penny Metropulos, is from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Her resume includes directing many classics including a number of operas. When we spoke on the phone we discussed the beautiful language Shakespeare uses in this, his first tragedy. The language is accessible, too; clear and understandable even after 500 years. We also talked about the humor, a welcome respite from the intense emotions of the younger characters.

Big question here is, should you see this production? Absolutely. Even more important, you should take a young person with you. This is a perfect first Shakespeare experience. Like West Side Story, the action in Romeo and Juliet stays almost totally with the lovers and their contemporaries, making it an ideal place to start Shakespeare. Eight or nine is not too young. But beware! Shakespeare is habit-forming for adults and adolescents alike.

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If You Go
What: “Romeo and Juliet”
Where: Hansen Theatre, MSUM
When: Mon, Feb 1, 7:30 pm
How Much: $12, $23, $28