Summer's finest

R & J makes a splash; Civilians delight

By Aaron Leichter

July 3, 2007


If you've been to Shakespeare in the Park, you already know that the venue pretty much justifies the evening. No matter how good the show is (or how bad – and there have been some clunkers), it's really about Central Park at twilight. When the weather is fair, even the crickets seem to chirp in iambic pentameter.

Fortunately, this summer's first Delacorte production, "Romeo and Juliet", proves equal to the pleasures of its surroundings. In too many previous summers, the Public Theater has chosen stars over talent. But this time around they find a balance in Lauren Ambrose, who has gone far beyond her moody role on “Six Feet Under” in her performance as the impetuous Juliet. Ambrose may be young, but she is even better onstage than she was on TV: her warm pulse seems visible even from the last row. She and Oscar Isaac (Romeo) are such a good-looking pair, and they bound across the stage into each other's arms with such abandon, they would likely win the audience over even without some of Shakespeare's most lyrical lines.

The more passion a scene calls for, the better they are. But then, this play is all about high emotion as well as swift action. Director Michael Greif ("Rent", "Grey Gardens") hurls actors and audience headlong through the evening, following the prologue up with a swordfight. Christopher Evan Welch, as Mercutio, stands out from the activity, and like many in the role before him, he galvanizes the entire cast early on. Camryn Mannheim's Nurse is a hammy bore, but that disappointment is offset by a surprise turn by Juliet's father. In that usually forgettable role, Michael Cristofer embodies the volatility that plagues Verona, nearly beating his daughter up when she refuses to marry the suitor he has chosen.

To accentuate all the leaping, climbing, kissing and fighting, Greif and designer Mark Wendland have covered the stage in water. It's not clear what the resulting splashes have to do with the play, which includes many metaphors about fire and lightning but none about water. However, it does look inviting (especially during a Gotham heatwave), and it adds one more pleasure an evening full of them.

If you miss the chance for free Shakespeare, consider spending a little money on a sure thing. "Gone Missing" comes from the collective mind of the Civilians, one of the smartest young companies around. Their M.O. is simple: Civvies interview ordinary joes on a given subject, then re-enact the unexpected responses. Most of the interviewees are eccentrics who cannot help spilling their unconscious thoughts, but what they say is as compelling as it is colorful.

The subject of "Gone Missing" is lost objects: keys, jewelry, a shoe, a stuffed animal, a husband or a job, an inheritance, a war, a memory, even the continent of Atlantis. But part of what makes the show so affecting is the undercurrent of self-recrimination and guilt. Adding to the show's delight is the company's astonishingly rich performances. Though they are dressed uniformly in gray suits (looking like some forgotten new wave band), their postures and accents sketch out specific personalities. In between the comical monologues are witty songs that range across genres - folk rock, torch songs, even a mariachi number. It's 21st-century vaudeville, breezy but philosophical, more perfect entertainment for a summer evening.