Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Deaf Actors and New Jokes Revitalize Romeo + Juliet
Theater - The Stranger: In ACT's production of Romeo + Juliet, Shakespeare's loveliest tale of woe, Romeo meets Juliet while she's doing the electric slide. I nearly stood up and walked out of the theater. The electric slide? Really, director John Langs?
But then I realized that I was failing to appreciate one of the play's lessons: Love finds you wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Who was I to paternalistically impose my judgment on a dance beloved by high schoolers? Anyway, the dance is the least important detail in this otherwise thrilling production.
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4 comments:
Romeo + Juliet is probably one of my least favorite things in the world. I think the story has been done so many times, in the same way, and it's predictability really drags it down. When reading this review I don't think that my opinion of the show has been miraculously changed, but for once in my life I was hit with a glimmer that if I went to this show, I might stand a chance of being entertained. While it's encouraging to me that deaf actors are playing roles that aren't exclusively deaf characters, and what this means as setting an example for other companies and shows; the real interesting thing was how Romeo + Juliet would begin to show a more authentic romance story. I feel like one of the reasons I've become so immune to R + J is how they play out this classic, tragic love story that the entirety of a culture seems to base romance on. So often it's done the same ways, but I think this shows a relationship in a different way. There are couples or individuals who will be able to see themselves represented now in these characters, and from an acting perspective it will add another realistic challenge to the building of the relationship itself.
I love Shakespeare, and Romeo and Juliet is probably my favorite play of his that I have read, mostly because of its language, but I know my opinion is not the majority. Like Elizabeth sort of hints at, this production turns a story that many people turn their nose up at into something relatable and fun to watch by modifying the script to make it more contemporary. This modified script also creates more for a marginalized community. I love ASL and seeing it included in theatre, and I can imagine how much more inclusive the scenes in this show must have been with the addition of sign language – not only by having this second language, but by also having more characters speaking and interacting through the translations to one another. It makes my heart happy to know that Romeo teach Juliet parts of his language. I also wonder how the “all over the place” production design affected the audience’s ability to follow the story.
To be entirely honest, I am not a fan of quirky contemporary takes on Shakespeare-- or Shakespeare in general-- and cringed through a lot of the description in this article. I think it’s always a bit awkward and noticeably forced when an adult imagines what teen love and high school is like today, and the production design sounded oddly thrown together. But what I can appreciate and love to end is the incorporation of sign language and the deaf identities of the actors into the story and characters. Ableism is undoubtedly alive and well in the theatre world, and I think one of the ways we can challenge the status quo is to normalize the realities of differently abled folks. Joking about the actors’ deafness, making it known and discussed throughout the piece, and inviting the audience to empathize with the actors in addition to just the characters are all very clever choices in this direction, and I have much respect for the thought that went into this work.
Contrary to many other people’s opinions on Shakespeare, and Romeo and Juliet in general, I LOVE IT! I think Shakespeare’s plays have the ability to be interpreted in so many ways and that’s why I love them so much. I think do Shakespeare traditionally is boring. His plays were written in such a way that they are able to be interpreted in so many ways, so why wouldn’t you add your own twist? I love the take that ACT took on Romeo and Juliet and I love how they incorporated American Sign Language and worked to represent the disabled community, who are so often looked over in the world of theatre. I really love this article’s description of what they did with this show and I really wish I could travel to go see the show, unfortunately, the ACT Theatre company is located in Washington which is a tad far from Pittsburgh.
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