Publication Date: Friday Apr 17, 1998

Updating a classic

The 21st century is just a stone's throw away but the central issues that divide the world remain as old as time. It's the haves vs. the have nots; those north of the tracks against those to the south; those who believe in one God fighting those who believe in the same God, only in a slightly different form.

Look at Northern Ireland, Bosnia, the Middle East, and it's clear that the age-old "neighbor vs. neighbor" conflict is alive and well in 1998.

These thoughts were on Robert Kelley's mind when constructing the 1997-98 season for his TheatreWorks company, and they were thoughts that he wanted to address in some fashion. Then "Romeo and Juliet" entered into the picture and the artistic director just couldn't let go of Shakespeare's everlasting story of true love's attempt to cross the ultimate "neighbor vs. neighbor" divide.

"I've just been haunted by how tremendously appropriate the play is for the fundamental conflicts of our era," Kelley said.

Kelley will direct "Romeo and Juliet" at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts through May 3. Opening night is Saturday, April 18.

The veteran director didn't want to just do an exact recreation of the Shakespeare text. He wanted to update, bring it into a context meaningful for today's audience, and therefore had plenty of current conflict areas to pick from as a suitable location. Kelley, a man of Irish ancestry, decided upon Belfast. "Romeo and Juliet" is not a political play per se, Kelley said, but it definitely makes sense set in a political setting like the one that exists in Northern Ireland.

By updating "Romeo and Juliet," Kelley is not only following in a long tradition of theater directors and filmmakers, but he is also, in a way, making the play more true to its origins. When the story of "Romeo and Juliet" was first told, the conflicts were accessible and immediate to the viewers, and now they are once again.

"I really believe that a work like this you have to reinvent it each time; find out what it is saying to you today," Kelley said.

This is the third time that TheatreWorks and Kelley have taken on Shakespeare's most famous work.

"That's really one of my very, very favorite plays," Kelley said. "But it's gotten a different look and a different feeling each time (we've done it)."

TheatreWorks first updated "Romeo and Juliet" back in the 1970s. These modern day characters--modern day, that is, for the '70s--wore bell-bottoms and tank tops and worked in a story that was very much focused toward conflict and fights. For the second go-round, Kelley gave "Romeo and Juliet" a quasi-Elizabethan look that harkened back to the Italian Renaissance and focused the story very much around the theme of love.

This third take on "Romeo and Juliet" attempts to combine the elements of conflict and love into, perhaps, a more realistic balance.

"I guess this is a maturing of the director," Kelley said.

TheatreWorks has set "Romeo and Juliet" in a medium-sized Northern Ireland town, just outside Belfast. The background scenery created for the Mountain View stage will serve as a composite snapshot of what life might be like in these war-torn towns. There is the magnificent natural Irish landscape; evidence of the important role that religion plays in the communities; and ghastly indications that the peaceful facade can break at anytime. Boisterous brawls and soaring Celtic music intermingle in a world separated and held together by neighbors.

"I'm hoping that people will think that they are seeing a real world," Kelley said.

Juliet belongs to a prominent Catholic family, and Romeo comes from a Protestant clan. They are lovers caught up in the midst of what is called "The Troubles" and theirs is a forbidden love due to their different religious backgrounds and political orientations. This story line is no stretch at all, since the intense hatred between some Catholics and Protestants has caused many difficulties in Northern Ireland romances.

TheatreWorks has chosen two young, promising actors to fill the two title roles. Jessica Chastin, who plays Juliet, may only be 20, but she already has a great deal of experience in performing Shakespeare. Travis Engle is 17 and brings a gritty intensity to his role as Romeo.

Chastin and Engle are not the only young cast members in the production. Kelley made a deliberate choice to spotlight youth--and therefore hope--in this work.

"There is some point in which young people can see these conflicts with a fresh air," he explained. "The kids have to decide whether they are going to renew the conflict and keep going or move in a new direction."

This new direction, of course, is symbolized by the doomed romance of the world's most famous star-crossed lovers.

"I think that's what draws people to 'Romeo and Juliet' time after time," Kelley said. "Even if you know the end of the play, which I think most people do, it's the potential of these two lovers . . . "

Along with Shakespeare's text, Kelley said he researched newspapers, reading up on the happenings in Northern Ireland, and mixed bits of real life into his production.

"It seems that every day I open the newspaper and read another scene for 'Romeo and Juliet.'"

What: TheatreWorks presents "Romeo and Juliet" (set in modern-day Belfast)

Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Castro and Mercy streets, Mountain View.

When: Preview April 17; opens April 18; closes May 3. Showtimes are 8 p.m. (preview); Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 8 p.m., plus April 25 at 2 p.m.; Sundays, April 19 at 2 and 7 p.m., April 26 at 7 p.m., May 3 at 2 p.m.

How much: $23-$31 ($18 preview); $18 youth and senior discount price (not available Friday and Saturday nights); $10 member tickets

Information: Call 903-6000 

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