Tuesday marks the opening of a brand-new venue in downtown Sudbury — the $3-million Refettorio outdoor theatre on Durham Street.
STC/YES Theatre is slated to open its “Romeo & Juliet” production at the new venue, with opening night on Aug. 22. The show runs through until Sept. 3.
When Sudbury.com spoke to YES Theatre founder Alessandro Costantini last week, he said construction — which had already delayed the play’s opening by several weeks — was going down to the wire as the finishing touches were completed.
He said while standing in the space, it’s “very surreal to remember when it was just like a hole in the ground … I’ve obviously dreamt of it for quite a number of years now, but to be standing on the stage and seeing it all materialized, that was very emotional.”
Given the minimalist nature of the space, Costantini said the choice of “Romeo & Juliet” as its first production is appropriate, as it echoes how Shakespeare would have been staged in the English playwright’s lifetime.
There will be no set design other than the space as it exists. Conveniently, given the play being staged, there is a balcony in the space for Juliet to give her speech.
Costantini said he wanted to do a Shakespeare play partly because it has been some time since the Bard’s work has been staged locally, but also because he thinks “Romeo & Juliet” speaks to the origins of YES Theatre.
He founded the theatre company as a teen back in 2010. Costantini thinks the story of those famous “star-crossed lovers” who strove to be together against all odds aligns with the story of YES Theatre, which is in the process of merging with Sudbury Theatre Centre.
“It felt like it really aligned with our own sort of impetus to start the company, this thing where nobody really quite believed in us, but we powered through and tried to get there,” Costantini said.
If you’ve been living under a rock and are somehow unfamiliar with the plot of “Romeo & Juliet" (or have not seen the 1996 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes), it’s a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career (1597 premiere) about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families.
When it came to choosing directors of the play, Costantini used his theatre connections to zero in on married couple Julia Nish-Lapidus and James Wallis, who run a theatre company called Shakespeare Bash’d.
The company seeks to make classical theatre welcoming, inviting and social.
Costantini said Nish-Lapidus and Wallis are known for staging Shakespeare in non-traditional venues, so he figured they could deal with the logistical challenges of preparing a production set to be staged in a venue still under construction.
He said the directors are also “masters of Shakespeare text,” and they’re able to make the play accessible.
Sudbury.com also recently caught up with Nish-Lapidus and Wallis as they drove back to Sudbury. They said the play will be a “fun and bare bones” version of “Romeo & Juliet,” which has been cut down somewhat from the full version.
“Our hope is that it is accessible for everyone,” said Nish-Lapidus, adding she hopes that whether people have never seen Shakespeare or only remember it from high school will “come give it a try with this production.”
“The cast is doing really incredible work with the text,” she added. “From our experience, we found that when this type of work is done in this way, with an emphasis based on being able to communicate it clearly to an audience, that the audience can understand, they let it wash over them, and whether they thought they were gonna get it or not, they do, they can follow the story, they could follow the jokes, they can enjoy themselves.”
This production sees most of the nine actors filling several roles, many of them Sudburians.
The role of Juliet is taken on by Sudbury’s own Katie Wise, who also fills the role of Gregory. Romeo is played by Dora award-winning actor Adriano Reis, who is also billed as Sampson.
“They are wonderful actors who have really thrown themselves into these roles, trying to take what are typically very iconic roles,” said Nish-Lapidus.
The production also sees Cooper Bilton play Mercutio and Montague, Stephanie Charboneau play Tybalt and the Nurse, Emmanuela Van Allen play Lady Capulet and the Apothecary, Deivan Steele play Capulet, Trinity Thibeault play Benvolio, Breanne Tice play Friar Lawrence, Dieter Licshe Parkes play Abraham, Paris and Friar John and Max Cull play the Prince and Peter.
Cull said he’s loved being a part of this production, although it has been difficult working with the archaic Shakespearean language.
“It has been an amazing experience,” he said. “Our two directors are so extremely knowledgeable with Shakespeare, and they have been performing Shakespeare directing Shakespeare and for years now …
“It also helps that everybody in the cast is really, really nice and amazing actors. We have an ensemble of just really talented people. So it's been just an absolute dream working with everyone.”
For tickets and showtimes, visit sudburytheatre.com.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
