2011 Joseph Jefferson Nomination - Outstanding Fight Choreography
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Cast
Romeo - Will Allan Juliet - Kelsey Brennan Nurse - Annabel Armour Mercutio - Christian Gray Friar Laurence - Phil Timberlake Capulet - Tom McElroy Lady Capulet - Patrice Egleston Tybalt - Luke Couzens Benvolio - Brian Plocharczyk Paris - David Sajewich Prince Escalus - Michael Downey Samson/Ensemble - Zach Livingston Gregory/Ensemble - Nate Santana Abram/Ensemble - Josh Razavi Balthazara/Ensemble - Cassidy Shea Stirtz Montague - John Milewski Lady Montague - Julia Stemper Peter/Ensemble - Dan Toot Friar John/Ensemble- Matt Dreier Servant/Ensemble- Kristen T. King |
Production
Nick Sandys, Director & Fight Director Angela Weber Miller, Scenic Design Camden Peterson, Lighting Design Rachel Lambert, Costume Design Christopher Kriz, Sound Design Angela M. Campos, Properties Design Phil Timberlake, Voice & Diction Patrice Egleston, Dance Choreographer Kate Danziger, Stage Manager Jeri Frederickson, Assistant Director & ASM Beth Zupec, Assistant Stage Manager |
REVIEWS:
First Folio's very fine 'Romeo and Juliet' hangs tragedy on the adults
Chicago Tribune 7/13/11 Kerry Reid
"There have been a brace of Romeos wooing a spate of Juliets this year on Chicago stages (I've seen five in the last 12 months), but Nick Sandys' smart and stylish production for First Folio might be the best of the lot....
That tension between youth and age and Shakespeare's preoccupation with untimely death serves Sandys' setting — the Romantic era of Byron and Shelley — quite well. After all, Mary Shelley, the author of "Frankenstein," was a teenager with her own scandalous relationship and a deep fascination with death and reanimation. Christian Gray's stellar rendition of Mercutio's Queen Mab speech makes a strong case for viewing it as the hallucinatory aftereffect of some serious recreational opium eating — and his bad leg recalls Byron's club foot....
Sandys underlines Romeo's Hamlet-like passivity (and his morbid streak) by having Allan cradle a skull at the Capulet ball. He also subtly but effectively plays with gender stereotypes, as when Luke Couzens' Tybalt falls dead into the outstretched arms of Gray's murdered Mercutio, who had only minutes earlier been twitting Tybalt's manhood."
Daily Herald - Barbara Vitello
"First Folio Theatre's "Romeo and Juliet" has something you don't typically find in a William Shakespeare tragedy: a sense of humor. Purists may not appreciate the levity that animates much of the first act of director Nick Sandys' inventive production. But his interpretation has merit in that it astutely reflects the recklessness of youth and unrestrained passion. Sandys depicts the star-crossed lovers as they are: impulsive teens in love, enslaved by their hormones and in over their heads....
Sandys could have played it safe with this well-known tragedy. But where would the fun be in that?"
Chicago Reader - Recommended - Dan Jakes
"...Director Nick Sandys never lets us forget that, feuding families not withstanding, this tragedy is ultimately about two kids who are in over their heads. Kelsey Brennan's Juliet is a commanding force, believably paired with Will Allan's lovably dorky Romeo." Read Full Review
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended - Ryan Dolley
"...the kind of Romeo and Juliet production Bard buffs should salivate over: tragic, yes, but bitingly funny and dynamically staged. Director and fight choreographer Sandys and an epically terrific cast bring a fresh exuberance to scenes so well-known they can border on rote... Everything here is done with wit and an eye toward unexpected characterization. It’s difficult to imagine a more ecstatic, awkward or charming balcony scene than what Allan and a masterful Brennan create. Their chemistry eschews sighs and doe-eyed stares for the kind of bumbling frenzy these star-crossed, slightly unstable teenagers deserve. He’s no Casanova, she’s no delicate prize—it’s fantastic to watch."
Chicago Theater Beat - Lawrence Bommer
"... director Nick Sandys moves the tragedy to 1818, a world of Beau Brummels and Regency rakes.... Sandys’ staging erupts in all the right places, amply proving that even the lovers’ ardor is warped into extremity by the violence that surrounds and threatens them."
First Folio's very fine 'Romeo and Juliet' hangs tragedy on the adults
Chicago Tribune 7/13/11 Kerry Reid
"There have been a brace of Romeos wooing a spate of Juliets this year on Chicago stages (I've seen five in the last 12 months), but Nick Sandys' smart and stylish production for First Folio might be the best of the lot....
That tension between youth and age and Shakespeare's preoccupation with untimely death serves Sandys' setting — the Romantic era of Byron and Shelley — quite well. After all, Mary Shelley, the author of "Frankenstein," was a teenager with her own scandalous relationship and a deep fascination with death and reanimation. Christian Gray's stellar rendition of Mercutio's Queen Mab speech makes a strong case for viewing it as the hallucinatory aftereffect of some serious recreational opium eating — and his bad leg recalls Byron's club foot....
Sandys underlines Romeo's Hamlet-like passivity (and his morbid streak) by having Allan cradle a skull at the Capulet ball. He also subtly but effectively plays with gender stereotypes, as when Luke Couzens' Tybalt falls dead into the outstretched arms of Gray's murdered Mercutio, who had only minutes earlier been twitting Tybalt's manhood."
Daily Herald - Barbara Vitello
"First Folio Theatre's "Romeo and Juliet" has something you don't typically find in a William Shakespeare tragedy: a sense of humor. Purists may not appreciate the levity that animates much of the first act of director Nick Sandys' inventive production. But his interpretation has merit in that it astutely reflects the recklessness of youth and unrestrained passion. Sandys depicts the star-crossed lovers as they are: impulsive teens in love, enslaved by their hormones and in over their heads....
Sandys could have played it safe with this well-known tragedy. But where would the fun be in that?"
Chicago Reader - Recommended - Dan Jakes
"...Director Nick Sandys never lets us forget that, feuding families not withstanding, this tragedy is ultimately about two kids who are in over their heads. Kelsey Brennan's Juliet is a commanding force, believably paired with Will Allan's lovably dorky Romeo." Read Full Review
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended - Ryan Dolley
"...the kind of Romeo and Juliet production Bard buffs should salivate over: tragic, yes, but bitingly funny and dynamically staged. Director and fight choreographer Sandys and an epically terrific cast bring a fresh exuberance to scenes so well-known they can border on rote... Everything here is done with wit and an eye toward unexpected characterization. It’s difficult to imagine a more ecstatic, awkward or charming balcony scene than what Allan and a masterful Brennan create. Their chemistry eschews sighs and doe-eyed stares for the kind of bumbling frenzy these star-crossed, slightly unstable teenagers deserve. He’s no Casanova, she’s no delicate prize—it’s fantastic to watch."
Chicago Theater Beat - Lawrence Bommer
"... director Nick Sandys moves the tragedy to 1818, a world of Beau Brummels and Regency rakes.... Sandys’ staging erupts in all the right places, amply proving that even the lovers’ ardor is warped into extremity by the violence that surrounds and threatens them."
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