Theatre Review: The Baron’s Men Presents Romeo and Juliet

The Curtain Theatre’s BYOB outdoor production is a magical night out

Reviewed by Cat McCarrey, Fri., April 19, 2024

(l-r): Olaf Heins as Balthazar and Pablo Muñoz-Evers as Mercutio in The Curtain Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet (courtesy of the Curtain Theatre)

Romeo and Juliet is a good play.

I don’t care what decades of strangled high school readings might have done to the text. What bored you in class is perfection onstage. Your teacher was right: Shakespeare is meant to be seen, not read. And Romeo and Juliet is an ideal introduction to the Bard, a brisk story with a little bit of everything, humor and tragedy shaken together.

I’ve probably seen upward of a dozen versions of the star-cross’d lovers in my life. Even Shakespearean period-accurate ones, and even at Globe re-creations. But this version by the Baron’s Men presents the characters of Romeo and Juliet as I’ve never seen them – with sustained levity.

And it all happens in a gem of a location. Down a narrow country road, a small-scale Globe replica overlooks the shore of Lake Austin. This is the rustic Curtain Theatre, which has no curtain, but hosts the Baron’s Men in all their glory. It’s achingly lovely. There were sweet sounds of nature throughout the play, from the last vestiges of birdsong to rising cricket chirps. Eerie owl hoots contributed extra somberness to the final scenes. Even if the play sucked, which it didn’t, the setting was well worth the time.

The Baron’s Men usually do two Shakespeare plays a year, a comedy and a tragedy (watch out for their King Lear in October). They’ve slotted this classic in lieu of their usual comedy, but honestly it plays for laughs right up until the last second. The deaths are treated with appropriate gravity. Every other moment chooses humor. Characters make different choices in the name of comedy, imbuing characters with a welcome lightness. It’s not self-serious. It’s full of deliciously bawdy and debaucherous takes, raw physicality and expressive hijinks.

At the rustic Curtain Theatre, there were sweet sounds of nature throughout the play, from the last vestiges of birdsong to rising cricket chirps.

Under Lindsay M. Palinsky’s direction, the company handles the challenges of period-specific presentation with aplomb, from scant scenery to the ebbs and flows of character volume depending on where they are onstage in relation to the audience. The heightened physicality of performances more than makes up for any volume discrepancies, and the company is comfortable playing to the rafters. Truly, there’s not a dud in the bunch. Every actor brings their all. They use the space well, from the initial moments with quarreling manservants to raucous brawls; Phil Canzano and Michael Osborn’s fight choreography adds more tension than you’d imagine a stage punch could pack. Romeo (Jared Walls) in particular is excellent at falling after a blow.

Despite the heightened performances, the lines themselves are delivered shockingly naturally. Shakespeare’s iambic rhythms flow from the actors. Sometimes characters talk over each other or over diegetic musical numbers (kudos to music director Josh Kavanaugh for those inclusions). Sometimes they rush and falter, just like real people. Their words are met with whoops and hollers and hisses from the audience, making this a truly Elizabethan scene. It was a party atmosphere. I don’t know how much of that was brought on by the generous BYOB policy and how much was just the pure love of Shakespeare fans, but either way it’s fantastic.

The titular lovers shake up what could be a staid retelling. I was particularly impressed with Shannon Gibson’s take on Juliet. I’m used to seeing her as young but wise (Claire Danes), or a beatific beauty (Olivia Hussey). Not so here. Gibson’s Juliet is full of the giddiness of first love. She plays into the exuberant inexperience of this young girl. That naivete continues into the second half, where Juliet is forced into too-soon maturity. Even her sorrows are overshadowed by unfettered love for Romeo. This love isn’t pure and fated. It’s two silly people whose thoughtlessness sets off Rube Goldbergian plot machinations.

Walls’ Romeo matches her youthful folly. Again, their sudden love is played for laughs, his instant abandonment of Rosaline for Juliet more lusty than fated. But their love, while silly, is sincere. They play bewildered youth so well, all wide-eyed and wondrous. The audience knows it will end in disaster. But somehow, you still want it to work out for these two crazy kids.

The fact that Romeo and Juliet is well-trod territory that still summons those feelings? Nothing short of magical. And an evening with the Baron’s Men brings that magic to life.