MONMOUTH — “Romeo & Juliet” is the Theater at Monmouth’s Shakespeare in Maine Communities offering for 2019.
The play will tour for three weeks to schools and community centers across the state from Oct. 7 to 25, and run for one weekend only in Cumston Hall, on Friday, Oct. 11, through Sunday, Oct. 13.
The production is part of Shakespeare in American Communities, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The Shakespeare in Maine Communities tour is also funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission.
Theater at Monmouth has provided literature-based education programs in schools and community centers since the theater’s founding. Since 2005, the theater has has taken the Bard on the road with Shakespeare in Maine Communities, featuring 60 to 90-minute adaptations of Shakespeare with five to eight actors. The target grade levels for the tour are middle and high schools; previous tours have reached more than 6,000 students annually.
The play is Shakespeare’s only romantic tragedy, and is filled with missed chances, misunderstanding and humor. In the end the lovers fall victim to the older generation who, failing to understand them, contribute to their deaths. The adaptation offers an engaging and accessible introduction to Shakespeare, highlighting the timeless themes of impetuous love, loyalty and revenge.
Adapted and directed by Dawn McAndrews, “Romeo & Juliet” features Ellen Magee as Juliet/ Benvolio, Erin Christine Walsh as Romeo/ Lady Capulet, Wendy Way as Nurse/ Balthazar, Paul Haley as Capulet/ Mercutio/ Friar, CJ Stewart as Prince / Paris/ Tybalt. Set design by Jim Alexander, costume design by Elizabeth Rocha, lighting design by Jim Alexander.
Public performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 and 12 and 1 p.m. Oct. 12 and 13. For ticket information call 207-933-9999 or visit theateratmonmouth.org.
For more information about the Education Tours, visit www.theateratmonmouth.org/education-tours.
