William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the classic love story that examines the destructive effects of anger and revenge across generations, will be presented in the Pardoe Theatre Nov. 10-Dec. 4 at Brigham Young University.
Tickets for the event are available through the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4322, or online at byuarts.com. Tickets range in price from $11 to $15. There are also discounted dress rehearsals and matinees available Nov. 10, 11 and 20 for $8.
“To me, the real tragedy of Romeo and Juliet isn’t that the two lovers would rather die than live apart,” said director Megan Sanborn Jones. “The tragedy is the environment they live in. The Capulets and Montagues, prompted by Prince Escalus, have put love of money and social standing above love of their children, and the consequence of their greed is their children’s lives.”
To emphasize this interpretation, Jones has chosen to set the play in the Gilded Age of New York, the period spanning 1870 to 1900.
“This period in America saw an unprecedented growth,” she said. “The economy grew at the fastest rate in its history, with capital formation, real wages, gross domestic product and private wealth all increasing at astonishing rates, with much of the wealth held by a few.”
“We found this high society of money, status, business contracts, marriage for position, balls, duels and power to be the perfect backdrop to tell the story of the tragedy of the houses of Escalus, Capulet and Montague,” she said.
Christie Clark is Juliet and Richie Uminski is Romeo, with Andrew Joy as Tybalt, Jason Langlois as Mercutio, Christian Cragun as Benvolio, Dustin Purnell as Prince Escalus, Brighton Sloan as the Nurse, Carter Thompson as Friar Lawrence, Greg Pyper and Mari Toronto as Lord and Lady Capulet and Daniel Riggs and Bergen Goesch as Lord and Lady Montague.
Jana Lee Stubbs is the stage manager, with scenic design by Eric Fielding. Anna Hawkins designed the costumes with makeup by Kat Webb, and Ben Sanders is the lighting designer.
For more information, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-4938 or e-mail ken_crossley@byu.edu.
Writer: Brandon Garrett
