‘Romeo.Juliet’ to deconstruct classic love story

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Department of Theatre will present “Romeo.Juliet,” a contemporary portrayal of the classic love story, between Friday, April 12, and Sunday, April 21, in the Belk Theater of the Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts.

To a generation reared in the age of electronic communication – what does “falling in love” mean? In “Romeo.Juliet,” Elizabethan verse encounters the world of texts, tweets and Tumblr to provide a 21st-century approach to Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

James Vesce, chair of the Theatre Department, directs this production; Andrew Hartley, director of the Shakespeare in Action center and the Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare, is the production dramaturg.

In concert with the Shakespeare in Action Center, the Department of Theatre is committed to presenting Shakespeare through the lens of current scholarship and performance studies, seeking to challenge the historical baggage, false assumptions and presuppositions about the performance of Shakespeare in current time. Throughout four centuries of presentation and interpretation “Romeo and Juliet” has accrued multiple layers of romantic sentimentality. But what did Shakespeare really think of his star-crossed lovers? This 21st-century approach seeks to reconcile the contemporary world with that of the Bard’s own social and cultural milieu.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, and Thursday through Saturday, April 18-20. Matinees will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 14 and 21. Tickets are $14, $9 for seniors and UNC Charlotte faculty and staff and $6 for students and are available online or by calling 704-687-1849.

“Romeo.Juliet” is part of Brave New Worlds: Technology and the Arts, the 2013 Ulysses Spring Festival of the Arts.