By Emily Gillispie
Daily Cougar Staff

There are so many reproductions of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, that the tale can get monotonous. However, there is a new take on Shakespeare's one-of-a-kind tragic love story and it makes its debut in the form of a two-act play at Stages Repertory Theatre.

The unique adaptation by Joe Calarco, wears the catchy moniker Shakespeare's R&J, and is set amongst the backdrop of an all boys parochial school. The play centers around four rebellious young boys forbidden to read the play because of its subversive qualities.

It may seem odd that the play you know and love and have probably read a dozen times now surrounds four boys. Keep in mind that it is an adaptation and that the boys mostly do stick to the original text. Calarco does sneak in a few excerpts from A Midsummer's Night Dream and a couple of sonnets. This technique only helps the narrative.

The play opens as the boys conspicuously sneak into the basement of their school to read the "obscene" tragedy. While they look so innocent in their maroon sweater vests and striped ties, they clearly have ulterior motives. The basement is now transformed into their "stomping ground" -- literally.

They stomp and pray while throwing down their school notebooks, which seem to represent discipline and order.

After all the ruckus they get down to business and slowly start reading those famous first lines: "two households, both alike in dignity." This is when Calarco's magic comes in.

His version is brilliant for its ability to push the limits of the actors. Each actor has at least three roles, interchanging them at a moment's notice.

Calarco's version is true to the original with little surprise in-between. The only shockers come when the actors switch roles.

One of the funniest changes comes when actor Drake Simpson transforms into the nurse, altering his voice and pulling his sweater over his head for a hood. This version, as in Shakespearean days, relies on only male actors to play female roles.

Enter Juliet played by Dustin Ross. With his fair and smooth features, he is perfect for the role.

It is amazing how he can one minute play the brute Benvolio, and then have to fall back into the role of an innocent young woman. His interaction with actor James Lee Burke is also believable as Ross' movements suggest a subtle coyness that only Juliet could possess.

John Raymond Barker, who plays Mercutio among other roles, is perhaps the funniest of the cast. Barker's crude and sexually explicit movements are "Farleyesque" in nature as he uses his body and hips to make every move count. Mercutio is transformed into a gallivanting sex fiend that persuades Romeo to go after his love Juliet.

The character of Romeo is perhaps the least believable among the cast. While James Lee Burke puts honest emotional effort into the role, it just doesn't play out. His role as Romeo is too submissive and unattached to really show how much he loves Juliet.

The most turmoil is seen during the marriage scene between Romeo and Juliet. At first all is good, but Barker, who plays Friar Lawrence during the ceremony, becomes outraged at the pending homosexual scene that is to happen. After a brief scuffle Friar Lawrence complies, although it is never really clear as to why Barker's character had opposed.

There are a few good fight scenes cast among the bare set of only a wooden crate, a few wooden tools and a red scarf. These scenes are staged by UH's Brian Barnes. Tybalt's death scene is beautifully re-enacted as Simpson gives a heartfelt farewell.

The defining factor in R&J is clearly not set design or elaborate costumes. What sets this one apart is its simple nature and raw acting. 

Director Rob Bundy makes good use of lighting and sound effects to put his message across. The actors are clearly defined in their roles even though it may be hard to keep up sometimes.

Most importantly is that Shakespeare's original message remains. It is a message that survives even today. Society's youth will continue to rebel against authority.

This is seen in the four boy's clear defiance and mockery of their school rules. They yell, stomp and throw down their notebooks and proceed to read and act out a forbidden text. If anything, Shakespeare's R&J is an example of how great literature pervades our lives at any given moment and can even rescue us at unsure times.

Shakespeare's R&J runs Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays through Feb. 13.