ROMEO AND JULIET
Unfortunately, it does not. Michael Maggio’s staging falls short of the grievous grandeur summoned up in the script’s ringing poetry and suggested in Maggio’s own stated emphasis on the notion of fate as a key element in the tragedy. Maggio’s directorial choices are never less than interesting; his visual presentation of Juliet in the tomb as a study in white and black–her pale skin and white gown contrasting with her dark hair and the black bag in which she carries the potion that makes her appear dead–is particularly striking. But the end result fails to move us.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Phoebe Cates’s physical beauty is matched with a quality of inherent wisdom that makes her quite interesting to watch; her big love scene on the balcony, opposite Michael Cerveris’s rashly energetic Romeo, is funny and poignant and even a little scary. (Again, Merritt’s set–here the back porch of a two-flat–adds immeasurably to the work of actors and director.)
