Folger’s Gen Z ‘Romeo & Juliet’ Makes Feuding Families Political, Too
It’s perhaps the best known of Shakespeare’s plays, re-staged and reimagined countless times. But no matter how many opportunities DC audiences have had to enjoy this timeless romantic tragedy, the city has certainly never seen it with the energy, tech-trendiness, and Latin flair that it has on stage now at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
on stage at the Folger Theatre. Photo by Erika Nizborski
Director/producer Raymond O. Caldwell, throws the star-crossed lovers into the harried and high-tech modern world, complete with family and social stress, political upheaval, civil unrest, and rampant drug misuse. (A note: The Capulets and Montague’s rivalry inflates from a family feud into a contested election season, but though the Montagues take on the traditional democratic blue and stump speak of “coconut trees,” the Capulets don’t appear to embody the MAGA movement.)
stage at the Folger Theatre. Photo by Erika Nizborski
“This production is Euphoria meets Succession by way of a Shakespearean theatricality viewed through the lens of the current political moment in America, offering a space for us to question how far we’d go for love,” says Caldwell. “As I began conceptualizing this production of Romeo and Juliet for the Folger, the nerd in me was inspired to imagine a modern Shakespearean ‘metaverse’ … We are encouraging audiences to grapple with how wealth, class, substance abuse, mass media consumption, politics, and tribalism shape our capacity for love and exacerbate violence.”
Floyd as Benvolio, Renee Elizabeth Wilson as Lady Montague, and Tony Nam as Lord Montague in William Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet, directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, on stage at the Folger Theatre. Photo by Erika Nizborski
And the story is generally true to that of the beloved Bard’s:
An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed. A young lovesick Romeo Montague (Cole Taylor) falls for Juliet Capulet (Caro Reyes Rivera), who is due to marry her father’s choice, Paris (Gabriel Alejandro). With the help of Juliet’s nurse (Luz Nicholas, the couple arrange to marry the following day, but Romeo’s effort to stop a street fight leads to the death of Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt (Alina Collins Maldonado), and Romeo is banished from the city. Plotting to be reunited with Romeo, Juliet fakes her own death, but Romeo is ignorant of the plan, and believing Juliet dead, takes his life in her tomb. Juliet then wakes to find Romeo’s corpse beside her and kills herself.
on stage at the Folger Theatre. Photo by Erika Nizborski
But while Shakespeare leaves the grieving families in agreement to end their bloodlust, Caldwell keeps guns cocked. The result is — much like the inclusion of streaming video and social media channels into the play — to blur the lines between the play the audience is watching, and the social and generational theatre that continues outside the walls of the Folger every day.
on stage at the Folger Theatre. Photo by Erika Nizborski
Romeo & Juliet is a classic story of young lovers navigating their world of chaos and conflict, but if the play was Shakespeare’s call to let love lead, Folger — under Caldwell’s direction in this staging — seems to be warning that love isn’t all that’s needed right now.
Folger’s vibrantly modern Romeo & Juliet has a run-time about 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission and has English supertitles for Spanish translation. This production of Romeo and Juliet is on stage at the Folger Shakespeare Library from October 1 – November 10, 2024. Tickets are available online at www.folger.edu/whats-on/romeo-and-juliet/
