Romeo+Juliet

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Sam Gold’s modern Romeo+Juliet is exciting in the way of West Side Story but without the choreography by Jerome Robbins and the music by Leonard Bernstein. However, it does have an original score and songs by Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift’s producer, and Sonya Tayeh, Tony Award-winner for Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The cast is obviously geared at Gen Z as the leading roles are played by Kit Connor, star of the hit series Heartstopper, and Rachel Zegler, winner of the Golden Globe Award as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, a 1950s musical version of Romeo and Juliet. The rest of the cast appear to be under 30 giving the play a youthful vibe.

This is another one of those cut down versions of Shakespeare with only ten actors in total. As result, seven of the ten actors double (one triples). The problem is that almost all of the actors have to appear in every scene to fill out the stage. It is also very difficult to know who is who with almost every actor (other than the two leads) playing more than one character, some in gender swaps. The Nurse played by (Ms.) Tommy Dorfman also plays Tybalt, while Mercutio, The Friar and the Prince are all played by actress Gabby Beans.

While Connor and Zegler are passionate as Romeo and Juliet, they display little chemistry when together. Whether it is due to lack of technique, inadequate rehearsal time, or their own lack of stage time (Zegler appears to be making her stage debut, while Connor has appeared in at least three shows in London’s West End,) they hold your interest but never transcend their roles or blow you away. Connor’s British accent as opposed to Zegler’s American speech doesn’t help. His Romeo, however, is extremely physical, while Zegler’s Juliet is very spunky and spirited. Both are hot-blooded and ardent. They have all the advantages and disadvantages of their young age.

As Enver Chakartash’s modern costume design (mostly tank tops and jeans except for the Capulet’s party) does not differentiate between the Montagues and the Capulets so that in this production there is no sense of warring families. Worse still is the elimination of both of Romeo’s parents and having both of Juliet’s parents played by the same actor (Sola Fadiran) who doesn’t look a whole lot older than the rest of the cast. Tommy Dorfman is flirtatiously amusing as the young Nurse, while her Tybalt is not as memorable. Gabby Beans in her three roles is surprisingly best as The Friar in a yellow safety vest, while she narrates the Prince in the third person on mike which tends to distance this role and take away its authority. Daniel Velez (subbing for Gían Pérez) as Samson, Paris and Peter is unable to make them entirely different. Daniel Bravo Hernández (Abraham and Friar John), Taheen Modak (as Benvolio and the Apothecary), Jasai Chase-Owens (as Gregory and the Servingman) fail to make much impression.

The audience sits on all four sides of the playing area at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The set by the collective dots is a round platform initially set up as a playroom (or frat house) covered by piles of teddy bears for no explained reason. The balcony which is really Juliet’s bed is lowered from above when needed and then lowered to the stage for R&J’s farewell scene as well as the tomb scene. Friar Lawrence’s cell is the only other scenic effect in which half of the stage floor rises to reveal a bed of flowers.

What Sam Gold’s production does have going for it is its energy which counts for a great deal here and will please young theatergoers. Its fast pace keeps interest high and makes up for a great many of the production’s deficiencies. The speed glosses over many of the cuts which cause events to happen too fast. Gold’s latest Shakespeare revival comes midway between his iconoclastic Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth reworkings in recent years.

Romeo+Juliet (through February 16, 2025)

Circle in the Square, 235 W. 50^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.romeoandjulietnyc.com

Running time: two hours and 40 minutes including one intermission