LHS shakes up Shakespeare

By JEFF GATES

For The Madison Press

Where for art thou Romeo?

Not where you would expect him to be.

Or at least not wearing what he has traditionally worn when charming his true love.

The London High School Drama Department have traded swords for spiked collars and corsets for cardigans in their own interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo and Juliet.” Director Scott Blanton uses great creativity to put a more modern twist on an old reliable show. The Shakespearean jargon stays intact, while the actors perform it in a way that might be better understood by people today.

The play will be on the London High School stage tonight through Saturday; each night starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are all $5.

Blanton’s version shows the time of discontent brewing between the buttoned-down collars of the Capulets and the oft-pierced Montague family.

Kyle Weese gives an emotional performance as Romeo, a young man struggling to find his own identity and then gets blindsided by an angel (which makes more sense when witnessing the party scene). Weese grows as a character through Romeo’s trials and tribulations (as well as tattoos).

Andrea King does equally as well as the clean cut object of Romeo’s affection. As a more modern day Juliet, King is able to relay the inner conflict many young people have with their first serious relationship.

Knife-fight combatants Jack Spahn (Tybalt) and Hayden Conley (Mercutio) are excellent on stage as always, staging a classic battle — of course captured on the cell phones of the modern-day onlookers. Spahn’s Tybalt commands attention with a high-class arrogance, while Conley’s Mercutio (Romeo’s BFF) is the boisterous life of the party.

Romeo (Kyle Weese, right) battles Tybalt (Jack Spahn) in a classic scene (with a modern twist) of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” on stage at London High School the next three nights.

The gem of the show is Sam Dencher as Juliet’s gossipy confidante and nurse. Dencher’s contagious enthusiasm and wide-eyed expressions are grand, but what really comes forward is her ability to put modern inflection into Shakespeare’s classic words — making them also sound like things the cool kids would say.

James George does a fine job portraying Friar Laurence, possibly the play’s most complex character. A confession-taker of both star-crossed lovers, it is the Friar that plans Juliet’s tricky slumber, thus indirectly leading to Romeo’s self-inflicted demise.

While all others do well, deserving special mention in brief roles are Dalton Watson as Juliet’s over-protective father, Adam Throckmorton as the final piece (Benvolio) of Romeo’s three-person posse, and Ginny Held as the boisterous Prince.

A plethora of other actors fill the variety of roles well with their out-of-the box interpretation. Best signifying this is the Capulet party scene — which must have been the talk of Verona. A costume and dance extravaganza, where else will there be a ballerina, Cleopatra, and a five-star general dancing with a banana.

The London High School actors do a nice job as they take a leap of faith in presenting their own version of this tragic love story.