Romance will be in the air at Austin Gardens in Oak Park as the Oak Park Festival Theatre presents July 5-Aug. 17 the timeless tale of love found and lost in “Romeo & Juliet.”
Performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, and 7 p.m. Sundays; Wednesday 8 p.m. shows on July 17 and 31 and Aug. 14. Preview shows on July 5 and 6 are $15-$20; other shows are $28.50-$38 with kids free.
“This is a play where there’s a generational divide between the older generation and the younger generation. That’s part of what leads to the tragedy in the end,” said Artistic Director Peter G. Andersen, who directs Shakespeare’s masterpiece. “I feel right now that there is a similar divide between those who are millennials and Gen Z and some of the older generations and we’re trying to find a way to communicate.”
In addition to that connection to current times, Andersen wanted to stage this play because he staged “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” last summer, which Shakespeare wrote the same year that he wrote “Romeo & Juliet.” “I’m extremely interested in finding the thematic ties between the two plays for our audience,” the director explained.
Andersen’s vision of the work divides the play into two distinctly different moods.
“The first half of the play is this really romantic, dreamy, humorous rom-com filled with joy and hope and dance, and all these lovely moments,” he said. “Then, once Mercutio dies, it pivots.”
He noted that some productions paint the whole play as a tragedy but Andersen’s goal is to “make the two parts of the play feel really distinct.”
August Forman, who plays Romeo, was an instant choice for the director. “They came into the audition and there was really no competition,” Andersen said. “They have that leading man, romantic quality that I think Romeo has to have.”
“He is sweet; he is poetic; he is lonely,” Forman said of Romeo. “He is desperate for connection and love. He just wants someone to call his own.”
The actor, who is an Oak Park Festival Theatre Company Member, admitted that they was terrified when they was offered the iconic role. “I would not have cast myself as Romeo being taught the way that I was taught of who Romeo was,” Forman said. “But what I’m excited to play with as Romeo is his soft side, his kindness, his silliness. I think our director is doing a lovely job of allowing us to bring our full selves to the characters.”
Forman noted this production will be distinctive because, “We are letting the text speak for itself. We’re not doing ‘Romeo & Juliet’ on Mars. It’s not 1920’s New York.”
They added that even the characters you might consider evil are not portrayed that way in this production. “Our show really highlights humanity,” Forman said. “People doing what they think is best.”
Forman is a fan of performing this work outdoors. “There’s something so special about doing Shakespeare under the light of the moon,” they said.
Andersen cast Rachel Jones as Juliet because, “She is really a savant when it comes to Shakespeare,” he said. “She was leagues and miles ahead of the competition.”
Jones said that her version of Juliet “has so much untapped potential” at the beginning of the play. “No one really lets her be herself until she meets Romeo. The second she does, her language explodes and she is so clever and smart. That is what makes it so tragic at the end. She’s really done everything she can possibly think to do and yet it still doesn’t work out because it’s fate.”
Jones indicated that she relates to Juliet because she also knows what it means to be a dutiful daughter. “Shakespeare takes these real-life interactions and multiplies them to the nth degree,” she explained.
The challenge of this role is that “Juliet goes through so many quick highs and lows emotionally,” the actor said. “It’s an emotionally demanding role.”
Jones spoke of the director’s concept of having two distinctly different moods in the production, observing that it works particularly effectively when the sun sets. “As the play turns, the night turns,” she said.
The director has high praise for all of the performers in the show. “This is one of the best casts I have ever worked with,” Andersen said. “Audiences are going to get a real treat and see some top-notch Shakespeare actors working at their best.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
‘Romeo & Juliet’
When: July 5-Aug. 17
Where: Oak Park Festival Theatre at Austin Gardens, 167 Forest Ave., Oak Park
Tickets: $20-$38; children under 12 free
Information: 708-300-9396; oakparkfestival.com/events