What I liked
Broadly: everything. Specifically: the writing, directing, and performances here remind me why we remember the classics. Look…we all know Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet. Hamlet’s even gotten a similar (and you know what? I’ll say it: inferior) treatment in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. WNBF leverages that common knowledge to great effect. No detail of the original is left unexamined: Benvolio’s familial relationship to Romeo and potential love connection with Mercutio. Horatio’s status as a favorite of the royal family…but not a member of the royal family himself (not to mention the implications of the oft-cut Fortinbras). And while for the Shakespeare nerds and the fans of local LA there are plenty of in-jokes and deep cut references, at the core of this beautiful story is a universal one of friendship, duty, responsibility, grief, and regret. I’m getting chills just thinking about the final scenes and when my soft-bellied laughter primed me for the floor to be swept from under my feet. The creative team manages to make something as old as these foundational texts of modern English feel immediate and immediately relevant to me and my life. I’m going to see it again for its finale, and can’t wait to discover even more layers to this ingenious tapestry that is rooted in the past, but necessary for the present.
What I didn't like
My seat was squeaky and I’m a fidgeter. Sorry, that’s literally all I’ve got.
My overall impression
This is a tightly-woven, intellectual yet accessible story with punchy, laugh-out-loud humor punctuated by a few tragic gut-punches that will leave you in tears.
