Romeo and Juliet for Castle Hill

Castle Hill Players (NSW) present Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star-cross’d love, at the Pavilion Theatre from June 1 – 23.

In fair Verona, the warring families of Montague and Capulet have so enraged their prince that he forbids further brawling on pain of death to the lords of each household. Tensions simmer … and threaten to boil over when at a party, Romeo, the Montague heir, spies Juliet, only child of the Capulets. It’s love at first sight … and so the stage is set for one of the greatest romantic tragedies in theatre.

‘The language is delicious,’ says director Peter Rhodes. ‘And the cast are handling it brilliantly. Shakespeare is a huge challenge, and we’re relishing it.’

Rhodes explains that there were three reasons which attracted him to Romeo and Juliet.

“Firstly, it is my belief, along with a number of the leadership of CHP, that it is important for us to welcome and involve a younger group into our theatre. Obviously the bulk of our membership are older, but they are dwindling, and if the theatre is going to stay active, relevant and dynamic we have to open up our doors to a new and excited group of younger performers, directors and stagehands - this play provides ample opportunity for that with 17 people playing 21 roles, many of them younger, and many of them on stage at CHP (or anywhere) for the first time. 

“Secondly, I thoroughly enjoy Shakespeare and I know many others who share my view and so I think Castle Hill as a community is ready for some Shakespeare from us. It's a shame that if anyone wants to go see a live performance of this great playwright that they have to travel to the city - the community demographics here are ideal for a good Shakespeare and I think that because R&J is such a familiar story that it makes it probably the most accessible one to start with, not only for us as a group but also for anyone seeing Shakespeare live for the first time. If you know the tale, you don't mind missing a few lines here or there because the language is unfamiliar to you - you don't get 'lost' in a sense. To help this along I have set the play in a contemporary location, with very familiar music and some surprising hints of modern technology - in attempt to remove any barriers to the first-timer or youth. 

“Finally, I really am attracted to the kind of love that is expressed in R&J. Obviously Shakespeare compresses time for us, but all that aside, can you imagine the power of a kind of love that hits you so hard that you would meet someone - the daughter of your enemy - at a party, love her so deeply and completely that you would marry her the next day and the two days later you are prepared to follow her to the grave because you cannot bear life without her. These days we see the odd 'emo-kid' who feels the dark and dismal side so deeply they are always forlorn, we see the shallow kids who are in and out of relationships like the wind and feel no real deep emotion, and we see crowds of people around us who seem to swim around in a fog of 'reason' and over-stimulation, never tapping into their heart at all. What a wonder it would be to be so completely swept up, so deeply struck that love runs the course we see on stage here. Wow!”

CAST

PROLOGUE + PRINCE ... Phil Lye

SAMPSON + SERVANT ... Jordan Anderson

GREGORY + APOTHECARY ... Plaurent Ilesmi

ABRAM + FR. JOHN ... Tom Sinden

BALTHASAR ... Madeleine Stanford

BENVOLIO ... Tiffany Hoy

TYBALT ... Jawad Beedar

LORD CAPULET ... Marc Kay

LADY CAPULET ... Margaret Olive

LORD MONTAGUE ... Dennis Channels

LADY MONTAGUE ... Annette Snars

ROMEO ... Jack Crumlin

COUNTY PARIS ... Todd Beilby

NURSE ... Sandy Velini

JULIET ... Jessica Paterson

MERCUTIO ... Robert Snars

FRIAR LAURENCE ... Stephen Snars

Romeo and Juliet plays from June 1 to 23, 2012, with performances are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8.15 pm, and a Sunday matinee at 4.30 pm.

The Pavilion Theatre is located on Castle Hill Showground. Bookings: 9634 2929.

http://www.paviliontheatre.org.au

More Reading

Community Theatre Seasons 2012 - www.stagewhispers.com.au/community-theatre/community-theatre-seasons-2012

More Community Theatre - www.stagewhispers.com.au/community-theatre