Review Roundup: ROMEO & JULIET at A.R.T.

Rudy Pankow and Emilia Suárez lead the cast in A.R.T.’s new production of Romeo and Juliet, now running through Sunday, October 6th. A.R.T. See what the critics had to say below!

Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director and Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus reunites with two-time Olivier Award winner Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui to stage Shakespeare’s iconic love story.
 
The cast also includes Terence Archie (Lord Capulet) Jason Bowen (Prince), Sharon Catherine Brown (Nurse), Bradley Dean (Lord Montague, Friar John), Brandon Dial (Benvolio) Adi Dixit (Paris), Terrence Mann (Friar Laurence), Abiola Obatolu (Lady Montague), Alex Ross (Tybalt), Will Savarese (Abraham, Peter, others), Adam Shaukat (Sampson, others), Clay Singer (Mercutio), and Nicole Villamil (Lady Capulet).  
 
The creative team includes Amy Rubin (Scenic Design), Emilio Sosa (Costume Design), Jen Schriever (Lighting Design), Daniel Lundberg (Sound Design), Alexandre Dai Castaing (Composer), J. Jared Janas (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design), Thomas Schall (Fight Consultant), and Lauren Kiele DeLeon (Intimacy Coordinator). Marc Kimelman is the associate choreographer. Casting is by ARC Casting/Duncan Stewart, CSA & Jarrett Reiche. 

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Terry Byrne, The Boston Globe: But the story, of course, relies on the believability of the two title characters, played here by Rudy Pankow (Netflix’s “Outer Banks”) and Emilia Suárez (Hulu’s “Up Here”). And it is Suárez’s luminous Juliet who commands our attention from the moment we meet her through her heartbreaking end. Suárez has not only absorbed Paulus and Cherkaoui’s emphasis on using movement to express emotions, she has internalized Shakespeare’s blank verse to a degree that makes her delivery so natural even the balcony speech feels like we are eavesdropping at the moment she is forming her thoughts. Although she is a young woman with little power in her society, Suárez’s Juliet is never a victim. She owns every decision she makes, from choosing Romeo for her husband to taking the potion the Friar provides, and finally deciding not to go on without Romeo beside her.

Bill Marx, The Arts Fuse: As for the staging’s vision of love, that is defined more by earnestness than emotional depth. As the star-crossed lovers, Emilia Suárez and Netflix heartthrob Rudy Pankow come off as endearing, sympathetic victims of an insane feud — but their passion is never steamy or extreme. The pairing is cuter than it is combustible: Pankow remains an amiably smitten swain throughout, while Suárez takes fuller (and more adroit) advantage of Juliet’s maturing. Her rendition of the Act 3 speech (“Take him and cut him out in little stars,/And he will make the face of heaven so fine/That all the world will be in love with night”) hits the right languorous note. The role of Friar Laurence is expanded here — he delivers the opening words of the chorus and sums up the “tale of woe” at the end. Terrence Mann’s performance is so smoothly confident it irons out the cleric’s ambiguities. This Friar is an avuncular spirit of guitar-wielding, plant-loving tolerance. He may say “these violent delights have violent ends,” but he doesn’t believe it. (I sense a touch of smug liberalism here, but I may be wrong.) Too bad this enlightened Friar wasn’t with it enough to suggest that Juliet dress up as a guy and run off to exiled Romeo in Mantua.

Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR: Rudy Pankow is an affecting Romeo and Emilia Suárez is a strong Juliet. Watching the duo onstage, both great actors, was a joy. A number of other performers also make this show exciting and believable: Mercutio, a multi-talented Clay Singer has a knack for accents and physical comedy; Sharon Catherine Brown, is an excellent and doting Nurse; and Terence Archie, a powerful Lord Capulet made, my seatmate gasp at his palpable and cutting rage toward Juliet’s decision to not marry the suitor of his choice.

Madeleine Aitken, Cambridge Day: Paulus, in the show’s program, suggests we look at “Romeo and Juliet” as a story about love, rather than about hate. The hate between the families is still apparent. There are violent deaths – Mercutio’s being especially bloody – and the anguish of the grieving family members is palpable; one of the most striking parts of Nicole Villamil’s performance as Lady Capulet was when she laid down next to Tybalt’s dead body, overcome with emotion. I’m not sure Paulus accomplished her mission (or that anyone who didn’t read the program would be aware of it), but “Romeo and Juliet” was more than fine without it. Small plot changes and Cherkaoui’s choreography, plus a great cast and compelling technical aspects, were enough to make this a well-done interpretation of one of the Bard’s best. 

Max J. Krupnick, Harvard Magazine: From the start, the production’s choices help energize the classic play. Actors push around a large wooden wall, a manifestation of the division between both the pair of lovers and the two clashing families. The constant movement of this wheeled wall—the only permanent stage decor other than the wooden floor—expands and shrinks the space, and adds physicality to the way the characters change the course of the story. Quickly, the actors lean into humor to grab the audience’s attention. An especially sassy “I do bite my thumb, sir” from Sampson (Adam Shaukat) makes the young characters feel like true teenagers.

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