Audience Comments - Romeo and Juliet

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Top notch professional theatre right here in Santa Cruz.
Romeo and Juliet in The University's Outdoor Glen was just magical!
Young Juliet portrayed as a fresh teenager, a marvelous Romeo, great staging and a young exhuberent cast delivered a tremendous theatre experience. What a treat! Don't miss it.

Mary Kate L.

My husband usually hates Romeo and Juliet, but he was chortling during the first act of this production. Caitlin's performance is pure magic. I really enjoyed the show, despite sitting next to two crusty curmudgeons who expected to dislike it, but didn't.

Peg D.

Despicable in every detail! We are very sorry to have to say that we attended this years production of Romeo and Juliet and found it astonishingly bad. Last season we attended the production of The Tempest three times, which we found deeply magical, compassionate, subtle, moving and respectful of Shakespeare's language. The inadequesies of this years Romeo and Juliet are so extreme that it created grave doubt of the ability of the Santa Cruz company. It is an insult to ask people to drive from San Francisco and other points to attend such an amatuerish and ill conceived production. Where to start? The sublime Shakespearean verse was given no respect and no way to manifest its profound greatness. The stage direction more appropriate for the primate cage in the zoo left one's mouth agape in astonishment. Could anything be worse? The music was horriblly innappropriate and distracting. The characters were so misconceived as to make the dramatic situations totally meaningless. We feel that a company with as fine a reputation as Santa Cruz has a much greater reponsibilty to a subscribed and loyal audience and a prodution of this nature should never be allowed.

Nick, Jerry, Carla

This is a fresh. exciting and quite unusual R&J. The decision to make Paris into a repulsive creep was quite interesting. Lots of emphasis on the control issues over Juliet by having the actress playing Juliet's mom about the same age as Juliet, and making Juliet's dad a kind of "my way or the highway" ogre. This really made me think about women's rights. It was a fascinating reminder about how far Western women have come over the last 400 years and how far our sisters in the middle East still need to travel to achieve equality.

Christine W.

I enjoyed the very teenage portrayal of Juliet, very unsophisticated, cute. The group scenes, especially the opening scene, has a wonderful mysterious gypsy energy. Nurse stole the show.

M.A.

I saw this production on its fifth night. Yet there were many bad elements in the performance. I've been attending SSC for years and this has to be the worst performance ever. The direction was terrible, the characterizations were lame and inane and detracted totally from the drama. It seemed almost like a parody of the Romeo and Juliet as Shakespeare wrote it.

Greg W.

Phenomenal!

Thomas & Vanessa

I really enjoyed this production. A lot. The first act didn't quite work, but somehow in the second act everything fell into place and worked quite well! ACT I: This a a modern staging, and the updates of the characters were confusing at first. It wasn't clear what they were supposed to be or why they were dressed and behaving as they were, especially at the Capulet's party. There wasn't a lot of chemistry between the people where it was needed to be. ACT II: The chemistry kicked in. The characters all became real, and the world they were living in came to life. It became one of those magical Shakespeare Santa Cruz performances that I'll never forget. Definitely go see it at night to get the maximum experience.

John S.

I saw this intelligent and stirring production on a Saturday matinee in mid-August and was both moved (especially by the convincing and complex Juliet) and intrigued by the directorial choices. A Budapest/gypsy setting intensifies and politicizes the conflict between the feuding houses. The dilemmas for both sexes under patriarchy were illustrated with telling precision. Among many such details, I'd encourage people to track Yvonne Wood's subtle, multi-faceted Lady Capulet, an acquiescent victim/perpetrator trapped, horrified and isolated by her social situation. Textual purists should be warned of several cuts which streamline the story without major loss.

David Bolam

A wonderful production, a wonderful evening of theatre! This is Shakespeare as Shakespeare wrote it -- contemporary, immediate, full of life and passion. Juliet is young, spunky, silly, and full of fun. Romeo is in love with love, until he meets Juliet and it becomes real. The two actors embodied the parts brilliantly. Benvolio is an eloquent voice begging for peace in a world that will not permit it, and Mercutio is as mercurial as he was meant to be. The Nurse is wonderful! There are only a couple of weeks left of this remarkable production -- don't miss it!

Julie S.

Dreadful. An utterly superficial gesture toward the "ethnic" Hungarian that has nothing whatsoever to do with Hungary and presents only the most clich� of images of what this director imagines as "gypsy" culture. The production leaves one completely mystified about what the director hoped to add to our understanding of this chestnut play. Bad sound and lackluster acting left us frustrated in the extreme. People sitting behind us left at the intermission. Friends we saw later said they cleansed their palates by watching a video of Romeo and Juliet at home, to remind them that the play really is great. If this were SSC, I would never again buy a season ticket. If the new artistic director cannot do better, he is doomed, and so is SSC. Don't go.

Petra

Awful. The first act was played as a farce (!) so that the beautiful dialogue was lost and the love scenes seemed idiotic, leaving no reason to care about Romeo or Juliet. He was whiny but audible, she was good but inaudible, and they both froze their butts off in preposterous costumes. Act II was better and I liked the staging of the final scene. In general, though, the whole production definitely was not up to the usual quality of SSSC.

Janet C.

Don't listen to a word the dry and heartless snobs might say, this show was beautiful. It was touching and refreshing. The cast was brilliant, bringing to light the youthful, reckless, and innocent love that we tend to forget we all lived intensely once upon a time.

Horrible. I thought this play was a complete joke. There is no way that the thoughtful frat boy (Romeo) would have chemistry with the immature teeny bopper (Juliet). Total waste of time and money. I am so sorry I drove all the way from San Jose to see it.

Peter G.

This is a pre-review since I haven't seen it yet but it is certainly fascinating to see a production with so many enthusiastic supporters and, simultaneously, so many vicious critics. Hmmm... what to do?
Well, I guess I'll go see it because the positive reviews seem generous, insightful and literate while most of the bad reviews are patronizing, superficial and trite. This vale of tears is certainly a minefield, huh?
1595 saw WS write Richard II, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer's Night's Dream! Now, there was a guy who was on his game

Ant

It takes a lot to produce a memorable season, the most significant of many requirements being is one or more standout actors. SSC '08 needed a Kate Eastwood-Norris or a Dan Donohue... and had none.

Long-time season ticket holders will be hoping for better in the future...

Ryan

An absolutely magical rendering of Romeo and Juliet, in the dappled light of the redwood grove. It illuminated the play for me in unexpected ways. The play opens, the tribes clash, the self-righteous pillars of the community (the Montagues)and the wild, romantic Capulets (a tribe of gypsy boys in this production)transport you immediately into their world. Romeo, is intriguing--both boyish and wild and incredibly sexy. Juliet, who seemed too "Valley Girl" girly at the beginning, transcends her innocent playfulness in the second act in a heartbreaking performance. I felt I was there, with her, as she felt of the cruelty of love. Mercutio was brilliant and the Nurse, as Juliet's ally, both funny and soulful--she nearly stole every scene she was in. The play is ultimately, in this production, about the struggle between reason and passion, and Shakepeare's language is given a new voice in this textured and passionate production.

Janet S.

I am still remembering , admiring, and savoring this R&J!
The setting, the sword-fighting, the timing and staging --all transported us, and lent spontaneity and momentum to this story, making Shakespeare's work alive. I loved the many comic moments in Act One which invited the audience to partake in the emotional giddiness of love. Still, the acting was sincere.
We watched R&J's love progress from infatuation, to the intense sincerity teens are so capable of, to a commitment (if a wild and lonely one) to their own choice and destiny. The actors captured this urgent journey with passionate performances. Rubinstein's direction, combined with the work of many gifted actors, breathed a corporal exuberance into this poetry...the more to feel our losses in Act Two!
Among our family and friends, from ages 10 to 75, many of us saw it 2 or 3 times. Each time the audience gave a standing ovation, so I speak for many when I say "Bravo!"

Galen

Brilliant!

- Anita Krishnakumar