Los Angeles Times Monday September 7, 1998
Home Edition
Calendar, Page 3
Type of Material: Play Review
SAN DIEGO--"Romeo and Juliet" isn't pretty.
Shakespeare's saga of tragic teenage love is no candy-colored summer
romance that just happens to end badly. It's an awesome--and
awful--reflection on an entire society in Daniel Sullivan's dark and
majestic interpretation at the Old Globe Theatre's outdoor Lowell Davies
Festival Theatre.
This production may attract attention in part because of its male
star's celebrity. Judging from his credits in the program, it's Neil
Patrick Harris' Shakespearean debut. Somehow, he must have managed to
take classical training in between episodes of "Doogie Howser, M.D." and
performances of "Rent," for he handles the language and the physical
demands of the role with casual confidence. That includes a lot of nimble
shimmying between two levels of the stage and kissing Juliet for the
first time while locked into the top of a pull-up.
His square jaw and wide forehead over relatively small eyes help set
him apart from the pack of other young men in Verona, which is
appropriate for his loner stance at the beginning of the play. But his
eyes wake up under the spell of Emily Bergl's Juliet and flash during his
verbal sparring with Scott Parkinson's Mercutio. He reaches galvanizing
heights of passion during his scene in which Friar Lawrence (Richard
Easton) informs him of his exile.
Bergl, whose program credits are similarly devoid of previous
Shakespearean roles, is equally masterful, assisted by some thoughtful
stagecraft. Sullivan has the nurse (Katherine McGrath) bathe Juliet in
her first scene. While the nurse recalls her earlier weaning of the
child, and Juliet's mother (Lynnda Ferguson) tries to discuss a potential
marriage, the mostly hidden nudity of Juliet (behind a towel) is an apt
way to dramatize the bridge between the baby and the woman.
This Juliet grows up quickly. Bergl vividly suggests her initial
amazement over her sudden love and her ultimate maturity in making the
decisions that result in her tragedy. Sullivan gives this Juliet a
particularly savvy move when she returns to her home after accepting the
potion that will allow her to feign death: She drops the fateful bottle
while chatting with her parents but covers her tracks by quickly picking
it up and wordlessly using it to daub her face, as if she's trying out a
perfume in anticipation of her wedding day.
The entire cast is strong, but it's not the performances that make
this "Romeo" especially memorable--it's the look.
The costumes tell us we're still in the Renaissance. However, the
bright blond buzz cut on James Joseph O'Neill's ferocious Tybalt briefly
suggests otherwise, and then there is Ralph Funicello's stark set.
This looks like a place that's decaying, not flowering. A wall is
crumbling on stage right. There are no decorative flourishes--the plain
wooden floors that make up the two levels of the stage serve many
purposes, including the famous balcony scene. Tall, bare timbers line
three sides of the stage. Some of these old beams lean precariously as if
they're about to topple. One of them holds up an old wagon wheel that no
longer serves any purpose; no one is clearing away this society's junk
--and that includes its atavistic feuds as well as its material detritus.
Mist rises from the ruins.
(The only jarring intrusion on Funicello's concept, visible only from
certain seats, is an occasional, surreal glimpse of the lighted cars of
the San Diego Zoo's sky ride floating in the distance during the first
act. Something should be done about that.)
The first round of music at the Capulets' ball--clanging, thumping
rhythms from composer David Van Tieghem--conveys the sound of a harsh,
primitive culture. Choreographer Bonnie Johnston reinforces that
impression with a wildly martial, ritualistic dance that becomes brazenly
carnal.
After the fury has been spent, however, as the shocked and bereaved
community gathers in the burial vault to witness the carnage, Sullivan's
blocking and Peter Maradudin's richly textured lighting design create a
tableau that's worthy of a Dutch Renaissance master--a perfect
visualization of the stillness necessary for contemplation of the larger
themes of the play. The lustrous lighting helps restore a semblance of
humanity to the wasteland.
* "Romeo and Juliet," Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, Balboa Park,
San Diego. Tuesdays to Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 10. $23-$39. (619)
239-2255. Running time: 3 hours.
Neil Patrick Harris: Romeo
An Old Globe Theatre production of William Shakespeare's play.
Directed by Daniel Sullivan. Sets by Ralph Funicello. Costumes by Robert
Morgan. Lighting by Peter Maradudin. Music by David Van Tieghem.
Dramaturgy by Dakin Matthews. Fight direction by Steve Rankin.
Choreography by Bonnie Johnston. Sound by Jeff Ladman. Stage manager Joel
Rosen.
DON SHIRLEY, Weekend Reviews; Dark 'Romeo' Rises Above Shadow of Celebrity;
Theater Review: 'Doogie Howser's' Neil Patrick Harris leads a strong cast at the Old
Globe.; Home Edition. , Los Angeles Times, 09-07-1998
Emily Bergl: Juliet
Richard Easton: Friar Lawrence
Lynnda Ferguson: Lady Capulet
Mike Genovese: Capulet
Katherine McGrath: Nurse
Jonathan McMurtry: Montague
Rosina Reynolds: Lady Montague
James Joseph O'Neill: Tybalt
Scott Parkinson: Mercutio
Peter Smith: Benvolio
Rob Nagle: Escalus, Apothecary
Scott Ferrara: Paris, Sampson
James Wallert: Peter