Romeo and Juliet

Bravo! Those who know us will wonder why we were attending a play at a high school, when we don't have any children. However, our dear friends Gord and Gail have a daughter that age and Georgina asked them to invite us. We were not quite sure what to expect, but we got a competent reading of the play with a very lively performance by the cast.

In Elizabethan times it was common for male actors to do the female roles. I don't know if Jane Pilkey, the director, was limited by the students who volunteered, or if the females were simply the better actors, but most of the cast were female. Escalus was changed from Prince to Queen of Verona, played by Leah Miller. Her bearing and uncommonly good voice projection were suitably regal. In addition to the usual female roles, Mercutio, Gregory, and Peter were played by females. Sampson may have been as well, but I missed the role during the play, and Ashley could be a male or female name.

I was struck by the depth of emotion and role commitment portrayed by many in the cast. This was not a sleepwalking delivery of complex lines. One is expected to fall in love with Juliet, and I'll talk about her in a bit, but I think that Liz Bailey made Mercutio vivid. In the various plays and films I've seen, Mercutio is sword fodder one doesn't pay much attention to. In the buddy scenes, as I think of them, Liz was more compelling than Romeo, played by Cole Jordan. Her swaggering bravado was all that one could ask, without the slightest bit of camp. I was actually sorry when she was killed.

Juliet, played by Amy Widdowson, was beyond anything I had expected from a teenaged actor. The subtleties of body language and emotional colour didn't just show us how Juliet felt. Amy made us feel it too. How she responded the first time she saw Romeo, the balcony scene, the impatience of having to wait for news of him from Nurse (which was one of the best scenes in the play), her dead limpness in the family crypt, all show an impressive beginning to mastery of the acting craft.

Nurse, played by Lisa Fraser, was a perfect foil for Amy. Their scenes together were magic. As with Mercutio, I hadn't paid much attention to Nurse during other films and plays. However, Lisa showed us how Juliet's romance affected her. We see a parental mix of emotions at seeing a loved young woman entering a larger world. I got a kick out of watching the Nurse's servant Peter, played by Becky Reed, carefully examining parts of the set in a vaguely simple way.

Friar Laurence, played by Dean Bradhurst, nearly stole the show. When he jumps up and shouts "Benedicite!", you know darn well he wanted to say something else. The lisp, the earnest posture, the wagging forefinger, all were perfect for a worldly man of God.

There is only so much attention to go around, so some of what might normally have gone to Romeo, didn't. It isn't that Cole Jordan did a bad job, for he didn't. He played and spoke well, but somehow I didn't warm to him. Maybe he was having an off night.

Paris, played by Jason Sapieha, and Capulet, played by Nolan Fidler, were delightful. Jason brought the arrogance and pomposity of Paris to such a level that I nearly cheered when he was killed by Romeo. Nolan played a lordly parent who knows best better than some adults have. Their scheming together was thoroughly odious.

Lastly I have to mention the Apothecary, played by Georgina Massey-Biss. She was only on stage for a few minutes, but did a great job portraying a person nearly driven mad by poverty.

The stage was simply well done, a set of steps with a couple of pillars. These pillars became the bedposts for Juliet's bed, and the stage hands got a workout switching between the bedroom and outdoor scenes. As a side note, I love watching set changes, and these were very well done. The backdrop was of some townhouses, with people watching through the windows. The cast used the floor space in front of the stage, and sometimes entered from the theatre doors behind the audience.

Everybody involved in the production has reason to be proud of themselves. In the same way that watching the Calgary Hitmen or other sub-NHL level hockey is often better sport than the so-called professionals, I enjoyed watching this version of Romeo and Juliet. The cast portrayals of love, fury, hope, and heartbreak were wonderful to see. I'm going to be watching for some of the cast names to show up in the Calgary acting community.