Review: Romeo + Juliet

Review of the Friday, February 7, 2025 evening performance at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City. Starring Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler. With Gabby Beans, Daniel Bravo Hernandez, Jasai Chase-Owens, Tommy Dorfman, Nihar Duvvuri, Sola Fadiran, Taheen Modak and Gian Perez. A tragedy by William Shakespeare. Music by Jack Antonoff. Scenic design by dots. Costume design by Enver Chakartash. Lighting design by Isabella Byrd. Sound design by Cody Spencer. Movement direction and choreography by Sonya Tayeh. Direction by Sam Gold. 2 hours, 25 minutes including one intermission. Closes Sunday, February 16, 2025.

One of the wonders of Shakespeare, all these centuries later, is that his works are so timeless. And in that timelessness, directors have continued to find new, exciting ways to present these plays to speak to their modern audience. 

Sam Gold has done just that with this highly entertaining, if uneven contemporary spin on Romeo + Juliet (even the "+" instead of "and" is a signal). The show's tagline says it all: "The Kids Are F*CKED." This youthful aesthetic smacks you in the face the minute you descend into the Circle in the Square lobby, throbbing club beat, disco lights, and towers of stuffed animals assault the senses. That continues into the house itself, with giant teddy bears and a shopping cart full of more stuffed creatures center stage (scenic design by dots., lighting by Isabella Byrd). Soon, the cast takes to the circular stage, dancing, skateboarding and playing with the toys. They are a rough hewn bunch (costumes by Enver Chakartash) that present an intriguing if spot on contradiction that hounds young people: they are children at heart - when left to their own devices, but present as confident adults making often disastrous decisions. This is all a bit heavy-handed though, most obvious when the play actually starts, as several lapse into adult roles.

Gold has assembled a small company of actors, with all but the title characters playing multiple roles. Sometimes this works, and to humorous, thought-provoking effect, as when the same actor plays Mercutio and Friar Laurence in the same scene. Other times, it only makes things confusing, as when the same actor plays both Lord and Lady Capulet. Of course, a bit of this comes from the specific assignment of the actor in question: the former is Tony-nominee Gabby Beans, who uses her voice and physicality to clearly define her roles; the latter is Sola Fadiran, whose costumes seem at odds with the roles, and effeminate affectations while playing Lady aren't really enough of a differentiation, either. To be fair, a lot probably has to do with how they were directed. All of that said, every actor in the company has considerable skills and an enviable effervescent energy that fills the room. I found myself as invested in what they were doing as I was with what the main characters were doing. 

I should note here that I am very well-versed in this work particularly, and if it weren't for my proximity to a closed captioning screen where I could see which character was saying the lines, I'd have been confused several times.

Another actor, Tommy Dorfman of 13 Reasons Why acclaim, played the dual roles of the fiery Tybalt and the scattered if loving Nurse. She was a force to be reckoned with in both cases. As Tybalt, the tension was thick and even felt unpredictable - the edginess only deepened the characterization, while as the Nurse, she nailed the intended comic relief and the heartbreak of loss perfectly. Here as another performer I hope to see on Broadway again, sooner rather than later. I wish I could say the same for Gian Perez, who as both Paris and Samson seemed to be in his own special world, chewing the non-existent scenery and behaving like a reality show contestant. Perhaps that was Gold's intent, though I can't imagine why. Perez is also saddled with a ridiculous bit in act two, where he stops the show - the houselights even come up - and tries to get the audience to sing along to fun.'s "We Are Young." Why? Well, that has to do with the aforementioned unevenness of the production. The director doth tinker too much.

Of course, any production of Shakespeare's most produced, well-known play hinges on the actors playing the title roles, and here they have found two mostly excellent performers. Rachel Zegler provides a clear, well-thought out modern interpretation, with line readings that strike a perfect balance between contemporary phrasing and classic poetry. Her youthful, all-in-love exuberance makes her tragic final moments not only heartbreaking, but honest and true. Ms. Zegler is given opportunities to display her singing talents in a pair of lovely, but entirely unnecessary songs by Jack Antonoff. For me, though, the real star of the show is Kit Connor (known in the US mostly for his Emmy-winning role in Heartstopper) who gives us a completely classical reading of Romeo. Here is proof that one can deliver Shakespeare's lines as written without any vocal gymnastics. Together, their chemistry is - as it should be - palpable, making the reality of their situation wholly believable. Connor gives a masterful, highly charged performance that one hopes will inspire the very young audience in attendance to seek out more classic works in the future.

The production starts with a pile of stuffed animals center stage and ends with the company in a bloody pile center stage. An apt pair of images for this production. Would that the whole thing were as cleverly and powerfully presented.

📸: M. Murphy, E. Zimmerman