R&J, a gender-reversed Romeo and Juliet

Smartly directed and thought provoking, R&J puts a fresh spin on a well-known story. Mary Ellen Schneider's Romea is so adorably in love with Dane Oliver's innocent Julian, that any cynicism you may have about this Romeo & Juliet will fall away as easily as Romea's love for Valentine (fka Rosaline). Switching genders illuminates some of the gender politics of Shakespeare's time (and, troublingly, ours), but also allows for some great speeches to take on new life. There's excellent movement and physicality throughout, particularly of note in the Mercutia/Benvolia/Romea scenes and when Romea and Julian are finally alone together. Abby Craden doesn't pull any punches, allowing humor in where other productions forget it and directing... full review

This is a strong ensemble piece with a unique perspective on an important story - the company of "R&J" works efficiently and passionately to give audiences the gift of Shakespeare's language. ... full review

This production gave me new insight into the story of Romeo & Juliet. Not because the gender reversals made a grand comment about society and gender roles, but because the gender reversals made the characters no less whole. Where most productions of Shakespeare plays struggle to make either the concept modern or the style classical, this production made classical characters modern. I got to see timeless characters as people in my world. I got to see the question of how to treat innocence, tested in a timeless space. ... full review

I confess to being very confused by the production. In this modern twist on Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet, women play men and men play women. Or rather, women play male characters as men and men play female characters as women…I think. My confusion comes with the use of pronouns and lack of consistency in the costuming. For example, Romeo is played by a woman and is now called Romea (Mary Ellen Schneider) and referred to as “she” and “my wife” but she’s playing the role as if she were a man. The same is true of the rest of the female actors. Their stance and posturing is male, and their energy is masculine, but they’re still referred to in the feminine. They’re even dressed mainly in gender-neutral leggings and vests with a mascu... full review

Let’s get this out in the open: I don’t think the concept of Romea and Julian works. I really like my iambic pentameter (I am of the pretentious ilk that went to school for theater), and the syllabic switching between “man” and “woman” and other various gendered words in the Bard’s script didn’t sit well with me. Would I be down for a cross-dressed Romeo and Juliet, with all the male roles played by females and vice versa, but the script remaining unchanged? Oh hell yes. Doing so might make this production of R&J work better too; as it is currently, director Abby Craden is trying so hard to convince the audience that Julian is a dude and Romea is a lady, and the effort is a bit too evident. That being said, given how many actresses th... full review