Romeo & Juliet - State Theatre

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Production Design Notes 6This is our ENTIRE set: aneight-sided wooden platform,about a foot high. It comesapart in sections to fit easilyinto the touring truck.Chairs on each sideof the stage. Actorsare seated whennot in the scene...They can do soundeffects from here.This section of platformdetaches to becomeJuliet’s balcony, coffin, etc.Tony,We’ve decided that we wantthe music and sound effects inour production to be performedlive, rather than recorded. Whatkinds of simple instruments canwe use to create an appropriateatmosphere? In a few keyplaces, we were thinking aboutunderscoring the spoken textwith singing. And there’s oneplace in particular that seems tocall for a song. Can you composesomething extra-special for us?—PeterThe Aquila Theatre CompanyMegan—We’ve given you quite a challenge in creating the costumes for ourRomeo & Juliet. Here are the problems you’ll need to solve:• At any performance, our six actors (two women and four men) haveto be ready to perform any of the roles in the play. On our budget,there’s no way we can afford to build costumes for six possibleRomeos, six possible Juliets, six possible Tybalts, etc. Anyway, we’dnever be able to fit all that wardrobe in the tour truck!• Additionally, at each performance some of the actors will beplaying two or three different roles. They may have less than aminute to change from one character to another. And some ofthe changes will be in full view of the audience.• Depending on the luck of the draw, the male actors could beplaying women and the female actors will almost certainlyhave to play men. We need to make sure the audiencedoesn’t get confused about who’s who in our play. At thesame time, we want the audience to be able to acceptKenn or Louis or Andrew or Jonathan as Lady Capuletor even Juliet, without bursting into hysterical laughter.• Our set design is very simple—we’d like the costumes tobe that way, too. The style should suggest Shakespeare’stime without being too fussy or literal.• We’re picturing a limited color palette—perhaps coffee andcream?—but we’re open to discussion on this. Can’t wait tohear your ideas!—Peter & RobertDid YouKnow...?In Shakespeare’s time, even the grandestproductions had very simple sets.Settings were created mostly throughShakespeare’s descriptive language andthe audience’s imagination.What are some possible waysyou could solve the uniquecostume-design challengesthat this productionpresents? Illustrate yourdesign ideas with originalsketches, or imagespulled from magazines orthe internet.After you’veseen theshow, discuss Aquila’sdesign choices. Did theyallow the actors to makesmooth and clear transitionsfrom one character toanother? What about thechoices they made about hairand makeup?
Aquila: In Their Own Words 7Two members of Aquila Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet company, Louis Butelli (LB) and Lindsay Rae Taylor (LRT), alongwith director Robert Richmond (RR) spoke to the State Theatre (ST) about the process of creating their unusualproduction and the challenges and rewards they’re discovering as actors in the ensemble.ST:RR:ST:You've used a smaller ensemble, a simpler set andlighting design, and less music than we've come toexpect from Aquila. What drove these decisions?This past summer Aquila performed at the Globe Theatrein Nuess, Germany. Our experience working in areconstruction of Shakespeare’s original theater gave usall a greater understanding of the original conditions thatthe play would have beenperformed in. We came to realizejust how much the audience at theGlobe is present. They cannot beignored. Indeed, the more oneacknowledges their presence inthe drama, the more successfulthe show. The visual and soundelements in our Romeo and Julietare designed to increase theintimacy between actor andRobert Richmondaudience.Tell us about the process Aquila used in this production.LRT: During rehearsals, we spent a lot of time as a groupdiscussing each character. There was much debate as towhether or not to color the characters in broad strokes,(meaning, for example, if you are a woman playing aman, do you walk with a wide stance, deepen your voice,etc.) This was the most difficult part of the process, andwe are still working through it. We each found our wayinto a character from a physical point, either a posture orgesture, and are now allowing ourselves to let that goand trust what is going on with the character internally.ST:LB:Did you all come to an agreement about each of thecharacters in the play so that you’d be on the “samepage” no matter who was playing which role?While we sought a sort of consensus about who thecharacters “are” exactly, we found that the best personto consult, centuries later, remains the author.Shakespeare drew such incredibly clear characters; eachone has their own unique speech pattern, thoughtprocess, sense of logic, charisma, and objects ofobsession, all hard-wired into the words Shakespearegave them to speak. Whether Juliet is being played by apetite young woman or a bald man with a beard, theplaywright reminds us that she is a 13-year old girlcaught in the throes of a first love; that she’s veryST:intelligent and hyper-articulate—she can run verbalcircles around Romeo.We did not decide that each Romeo should say “But soft!What light through yonder window breaks,” in a particularway every time. But we did decide, for the sake of unity(and safety!), that he should probably stand in a similarplace every time, no matter who was playing him.Which role(s) are you finding most difficult? Easiest?LRT: I find playing the men very difficult. Benvolio has been amajor challenge for me, because he is not a very clearlydefined character. I find it hard to make him interesting.He is very male, more so than any of the other boys, soas a female, that is a big challenge for me. At themoment, I probably enjoy playing Juliet the most,perhaps because she it the character that I mostconnect to. She is very rich, but has quite a toughjourney, which has been incredibly challenging, as well.LB:Ironically, both the most difficult and the easiest role forme are assigned to the same character “track.” Thismeans that when I play either one, I play them both onthe same evening. My most difficult role is the Nurse,and my easiest is Mercutio.The most obvious difficulty with playing the Nurse is thatshe is physically sodifferent from me. Thatsaid, Shakespeare givesus very specific clues asto what she mightactually be like and howto play her. She is agreat chatter-box with aself-deprecating senseof humor. She iscontinually making jokesand off-color remarksabout sex. Herenthusiasm andquirkiness areinfectious, and she is allthe more tragic forhaving started out atsuch an entertaininghigh.Louis Butelli as Feste in AquilaTheatre’s Twelfth Night
Page 3 and 4: The Characters 3“A plague o’ bo
Page 5: Adapting the Play 5In bringing a pl
Page 10 and 11: Keep the Beat! 10Speaking from the
Page 12: Audience/Resources 12Do You Know Yo

Romeo & Juliet - State Theatre

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