AC
Upstage's Romeo
& Juliet Dazzles
John Berthiaume '06 and Eve Summer
'08 as Romeo and Juliet |
March,
2005—This
weekend, come travel back in time to 15th century Verona, where
a pair of star-crossed lovers will transcend the acrimonious feud
between their two families and fall hopelessly in love, only to
meet their untimely ends with a vial of poison and a dagger.
Assumption College’s AC Upstage organization presents the
timeless classic Romeo and Juliet from March 18-20, 2005,
at 7:00 p.m. in the Atrium of the Testa Science Center. This is
the first Shakespeare masterpiece to be performed on campus in quite
some time. The production opened at the end of February to rave
reviews from packed-house audiences.
Romeo and Juliet is also the first theatrical performance
to use the unique space of the brand-new Testa Science Center. The
building’s bright, airy, high-ceilinged Atrium contains plenty
of natural light and three stories of staircases for innovative
movement options, bringing new flair to the show.
The cast is a dynamic mixture of seasoned actors and newcomers,
including current students, an alumnus, and an administrator (Community
Service Learning director Shahrayne Litchfield plays the Nurse.)
In fact, the actors portraying Romeo and Juliet, John Berthiaume
’06 and Eve Summer ’08, are
acting in their very first stage roles.
Romeo
and Juliet
Friday, March 18-Sunday,
March 20, 2005
7:00 p.m., Testa Science Center Atrium
Tickets: $8/students; $10 nonstudents
For more info, call Brian Tivnan at (508) 767-7410.
Click here
for photos of the February performances.
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Summer is a classically trained ballerina who is now exploring the
stage through a different medium. A self-admitted Shakespeare buff,
she admits that it was this particular subject material drew her
to acting.
“I had never really thought about acting, until I saw flyers
for [Romeo and Juliet] tryouts,” she said. “Since I
love Shakespeare, so I decided to give it a try. The next thing
I knew, I got a call from [director] Brian Tivnan, saying that I
would be playing Juliet.”
Tivnan
was equally pleased to find another new face in Berthiaume. “John
is really the best Romeo I’ve ever seen, in all of my years
of theatre,” says Tivnan. “He really ‘gets it.’
He’s raw, full of love and passion.”
The performance also features several seasoned student actors, who
have appeared in past AC Upstage productions. Alum Marc
Sawyer ’04, who plays hilarious character Mercutio,
is excited to deviate from his past “serious” roles
in 2003’s The Boys Next Door and 2004’s Footloose. In
contrast, John Plough ’05, known on campus
as a brilliant comic actor, shows his impressive range in the dramatic
role of Prince Escalus. Also noteworthy are the portrayals of male
characters Benvolio and Tybalt—by Sarah Gower ’05
and Ariel Barilla ’06.
To
recreate the ambiance of the play’s 15th-century setting,
several atmospheric details were incorporated into the performances.
Period costume, including bright brocade jackets and tights, injected
authenticity into the scene. The actors learned to swordfight from
a professional, providing for carefully choreographed lifelike battles
throughout the production. Live flute music and creative lighting
set the mood for the night.
Also setting the tone for the play is the usage of the traditional
speech. Although other students expressed their nerves over memorizing
the tongue-twisting Old English lines, Sawyer finds the archaic
language fascinating.
“The language is unique and bizarre to me, so that makes me
remember it better,” he said. “Because the language
is so different, these words stick in my head.”
Director Tivnan is quite pleased with AC Upstage’s first attempt
at Shakespeare in many years.
“The actors have learned the language and made it their own,”
he said. “They haven’t overacted it at all. It’s
been very, very successful.”
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