‘Romeo and Juliet’ opens at ECU
Shakespeare’s Elizabethan age comes to life in a late ’80s pre-grunge era in East Carolina University’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
ECU School of Theatre and Dance faculty member Greg Funaro directs the well-known tragedy about star-crossed lovers re-imagined for modern day. Performances start today.
Sword and knife fights erupt between the feuding Montagues and Capulets. (Photos by Cliff Hollis)
Sword and knife fights erupt between the allies of the feuding Montagues and Capulets. ECU students have rehearsed extensively with weapons — many for the first time — as stage combat coursework has returned since the pandemic started, said Jill Materelli Carlson, ECU faculty member, fight choreographer and intimacy director.
“When we’re talking about a stage fight, we’re creating an illusion while everyone’s still very safe,” Materelli Carlson said.
Amid the conflict, Shakespeare’s story teaches a bigger lesson. “It’s some of the most beautifully written language we have,” Matarelli Carlson said. “I hope one thing that the audience takes from the production is that violence is a terrible way to solve any problem. Violence begets more violence. It doesn’t fix anything.”
A turning point in the show follows a fight between Mercutio, a friend of the Montagues, and Tybalt, Lady Capulet’s nephew.
“All Tybalt wants to do is fight,” said Morais Clarke, a junior from Fayetteville, who has been looking forward to his first fight on stage since being cast as Tybalt. “It’s always fun to play a villain and I have been loving every second of it. It’s something about causing pure chaos that is really compelling.”
Tatiana Burrus, who plays the role of Mercutio, has discovered that she really enjoys stage combat. “This was so different from anything I have ever done for a show before and it was so much fun learning the fight,” said Burrus, a junior from Durham. “I have learned a lot about what I can do as an actor during this rehearsal process. The entire cast and crew have worked so hard in making sure this show is amazing, and I hope the audience enjoys the show!”
Scenes with intimacy are as choreographed as fighting, but the dynamic requires a “checking in and checking out” that is critical for actors to be able to leave their emotions on the stage. “When you’re performing, feelings come up. But the circumstances that created those feelings are fictional,” Matarelli Carlson said.
ECU’s production is a mashup of Elizabethan and late ’80s pre-grunge.
One character who is more interested in romance than violence is Romeo, portrayed by ECU senior Keagan Kermode of Roswell, N.M.
“The thing I have enjoyed about this project is that it’s the first time I’ve been involved in a play where I fall more in love with the script the longer it sits with me,” he said. “There hasn’t been a part of the show that has gotten old for me.”
Kermode said he has noticed new things in the script almost daily since rehearsals began before spring break. “The language is so beautiful to speak and to hear, and I think the cast and crew have done a really great job of making Shakespeare accessible to the modern audience.”
Because the play is so known, Alex Portaro, who plays Juliet, hopes audiences will leave the show with new opinions and thoughts on the overarching theme of the effects of human conflict and strife, which are relevant today.
“People are messy and complicated, and these characters are no different, so I’ve really tried to let that come through in my portrayal of Juliet (especially in Act 2),” said Portaro, a sophomore from Naples, Fla. “It’s also been really fun to discover the different layers of Juliet because she’s much more complex than she may appear to be. She’s very strong-minded and tends to be very logical in her approach to situations, but in the beautiful way that the play is written, you get to see Romeo’s poetic and love-driven spontaneity rub off on her once she falls for him, which has been so wonderful to play around with.”
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday as well as 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in McGinnis Theatre. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office at 252-328-6829. Tickets are available at the Messick Theatre Arts Center box office 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday. Tickets are $10 for ECU students and youth (under 18), $12 for ECU faculty, staff and senior citizens, and $15 for the general public. The production will be livestreamed Friday-Sunday.
Juliet, played by ECU sophomore Alex Portaro, looks forward to seeing Romeo.