For its first production featuring a primarily adult cast, Showtime is trading its usual youth-oriented focus for a modernized take on a timeless classic, led by producer Jake Lundgren.
First-time director Liz Hardy said modernizing the show opens up the chance to bring in a new audience that hasn’t experienced Shakespeare before, without losing those already familiar with the tale.
“It’s contemporary, a little different than what people are expecting. We have cut and switched some lines but it’s all Shakespeare’s language,” she said.
Another unusual touch is one that actually dates back to Shakespeare’s time. Several female cast members will play male roles.
“We don’t specify by gender. The men played female roles back in Shakespeare’s time,” she said.
Jaicie Graham will play the male role of Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin and an antagonist for Romeo and his friends. As Tybalt is a skilled swordsman, Graham and several other cast members have trained in sword fighting and said it will be interesting bringing female rage to the fiery character.
Another difference is audience participation. Some attendees will be pulled onto the stage to dance and some will be assigned seating based on which family – the Montagues or Capulets – they prefer. Hardy calls it a lot of breaking the fourth wall, meaning the production includes the audience in the program.
She also said the Springfield Metropolis, which is in a former church building, is the type of setting appropriate for the period.
There are 17 people in the cast, ranging from as young as 13 to as old as 65, including a lot of newcomers to Springfield theater.
To play the two most famous and tragic lovers in fiction, Nick Sanchez-Zarkos (Romeo) and Abbie Bremmer (Juliet) travel down from Columbus for rehearsals, which they don’t mind given this version.
Bremmer has played a lot of ingénues in her acting career and is used to musical theater, which she’s studying at Otterbein University. She was intrigued enough to answer Showtime’s casting call and looks to make Juliet interesting and believable by putting herself into the character.
“This is so influenced by me. I’m a big believer in her agency, making her stronger and angrier instead of the victim,” Bremmer said, hinting at her portrayal.
For Sanchez-Zarkos, the story has many relatable aspects that attracted him from being in love to emotions, family and other subjects that make it a challenging show, but one audiences can connect with if the chemistry is right, which he said he and Bremmer share.
Bremmer and Sanchez-Zarkos said they think while the show is different from the traditional take, that it will be different in an engaging way.
As for why “Romeo and Juliet” is still a standard for stage romance, Hardy said it’s apparent.
“At its core, it’s still about these emotions everybody can relate to, emotion in its rarest form,” she said. “This production will really bring Verona to Springfield.”
Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit showtimeperformingartsohio.org.
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