Romeo & Juliet | Chagrin Arts

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

INTERVIEW

Saturday, August 12 at 1pm (added)

Saturday, August 12 at 7pm

(Special Pavilion Preview Party at 5pm tickets $50)

Sunday, August 13 at 7pm
Located at Solon Community Park

CHAGRIN ARTS IS GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT OF SO MANY!

Romeo & Juliet Sponsors

Season Sponsors

A Very Special Thank You to

The City of Solon

Mayor Edward Kraus

Richard Parker, Director of Recreation

Tracy Sullivan, Director of Community & Cultural Enrichment

Dusten Welch, Jill & Neil Markey, Gary Gottfried, Chris White – for the beginnings.

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Solon, Ohio

Rob Peck, Julia Cooke, Louis Schwartz, Emma Miller, Ronald Golovan

Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance

Rene Copeland

Dusten Welch

Frantic Theatre Company

And all those who helped make this production possible!

CONSESSIONS AVAILABLE BEFORE AND AT INTERMISSION
BY THE CITY OF SOLON RECREATION DEPARTMENT

"I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks."

- William Shakespeare

TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE IS PRESENTED AS A GIFT TO OUR COMMUNITY BY OUR SPONSORS. YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO CHAGRIN ARTS ENSURES THAT THIS KIND OF ARTS WITH A PURPOSE PROGRAMMING WILL ENRICH LIFE AND BRING INSPIRING ARTS PROGRAMMING AND STIMULATING CONVERSATIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION OF YOUR APPRECIATION TO CHAGRIN ARTS AT THE TENTED TABLE. MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF AND BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE POWERFUL WORK THAT CHAGRIN ARTS DOES THROUGH THE ARTS IN OUR COMMUNITY IN SUPPORT OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE IN ALL ITS FORMS. THANK YOU!!

INTERVIEW

The making of Romeo & Juliet

Chagrin Arts and the City of Solon Production

Recorded July 26, 2023

LUE DOUTHIT - President, Play On Shakespeare

TAYLOR BAILEY - Producing Director, Play On Shakespeare

ERIC GOLOVAN - Romeo and Juliet Director

KENNETH DOUTHIT - Chagrin Valley Times, Moderator

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

I will never forget the day in my freshman year of high school when my English teacher announced that we would be studying the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I am sure the looks on all of our faces went blank and stared in the most confused way possible as none of us had ever really read, seen, or experienced any piece of Shakespeare; all we knew was that it was hard and we likely would not understand any of it.

Throughout the unit, our teacher painted these intricate pictures for us of these two young characters meeting each other and falling in love at first sight. We were expected to know that love is the main driving force of the story, as were most people that have ever studied Romeo and Juliet in an English class. That is why for years, we have referred to these characters as the most influential lovers in literature

After having all these messages of true love thrown at me, I decided I hated Romeo and Juliet and probably all things Shakespeare, for that matter.

It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized that the story this play actually tells is not just a typical cliché love story; in fact, I do not believe this play is a love story at all. I know deep down that it is a story of young (and very immature) people having internal discoveries and going through changes.

This play is an inner awakening of the human brain.

It is a sexual awakening.

It is a call to examine the ways we treat the people in our lives, particularly those who are different from us.

It is a story of growth.

But why is this a story we need to tell now, in 2023? Isn’t it a bit overdone?

Sure, Romeo and Juliet is a story that has been told for centuries, however, the truth is that as a society, we have proven time and time again that we have not learned our lesson in how we should be treating people. That is why we need growth.

We need to be able to look at what happens in our communities and our world and not ignore them, but rather take them and look at where the opportunities to grow as human beings are.

We hope that Romeo and Juliet will inspire us all to find the growth within us and spark conversations about where we can grow as a society.

We truly don’t have any other option.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

“For never was a story of more woe /
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

In this new version of Romeo and Juliet, written in accessible modern English, Hansol Jung breathes new life into Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. By closely examining the familiar language and focusing on the subtleties of the text, Jung illuminates a surprising and more nuanced world than many of us have come to expect from the well-known tale of star-crossed lovers.

ABOUT PLAY ON SHAKESPEARE

Play On Shakespeare is a non-profit company promoting and creating contemporary modern translations of Shakespeare’s plays. We partner with artists and organizations across the glove to deliver these translations through different channels including publications, podcasts, theatrical productions film and audio books.

SYNOPSIS

Place: Verona, Italy Time: July 2030

Act 1:
The servants of the houses of Montague and Capulet are caught fighting in the streets as Romeo laments over a woman he has fallen in love with who has rejected him, swearing to be chaste. By accident, Romeo and his cousin, Benvolio are invited to the Capulet family ball and they too, join good friend Mercutio, where Romeo meets Juliet and instantly becomes infatuated with her.

Act 2:
Benvolio and Mercutio are looking all over for Romeo who they haven’t seen since the ball. Meanwhile, Romeo has snuck into the Capulet garden to see Juliet. He goes and tells the Friar Laurence about his new love and requests that they be married instantly, which the Friar hesitantly agrees to do.

Act 3:
Things take a turn when Juliet’s cousin Tybalt and Mercutio fight, resulting in Mercutio’s death. As revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt and is immediately banished from Verona. Before he leaves, he seeks help from the Friar who tells him to go to Juliet and then leave at once.

There will be a 10 minute intermission after Act 3 Scene 1

Act 4:
Meanwhile, Lord and Lady Capulet inform Juliet that soon she will be married to the County Paris. Juliet seeks the help of the Friar who gives her a vial of potion to make her fall asleep for a couple of days, but to fool her parents and Nurse into thinking she’s dead. She follows his instruction and everyone thinks that she is dead.

Act 5:
In the midst of a miscommunication, Romeo’s man Balthasar goes to inform him in Mantua that Juliet is dead. At the same time, Friar John who was supposed to deliver Friar Laurence’s letter to Romeo with the plan, goes to inform Friar Laurence that because of the plague, he was in quarantine and unable to deliver the letter. Romeo returns to Verona and enters the Capulet tomb to take his life next to Juliet. Once he does this, Juliet wakes up and discovers Romeo dead and decides also to take her life. The parents and families come into the tomb and when they see their dead children, decide to reconcile their ancient feud.

ARTISTIC TEAM