Romeo and Juliet » Arden Theatre Company Blog

Romeo in Rehearsal

By Evan Jonigkeit, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet

We have arrived in the world of “our Verona” Our set is simple and our lights are rich. We are in the process of coloring in the lines and the moments of the work we have sketched in, to tell this story. It is the hardest part of working on this show so far… waiting to experience it with all of the technical elements in place.

In the rehearsal room, we found obstacles and broke through them, We developed relationships, connections and I have had the privilege to fall in love in a way few people in the world ever will. I have been immensely lucky to be involved in the creation of this world.

Like Romeo and Juliet, we as a cast sit on the precipice of finding out who we are. In the process I have had the challenge of taking snippets of my life of love, identity, and rage and using them in this story telling. I have been forced to consider so much of who I, Evan, have become as a lover, son, friend, adversary and how I reached this point in my own life. This self exploration makes me ever grateful for the craft I have chosen for a career.

Matt Pfeiffer and this cast makes this self exploration a haven of safety and trust. Matt is a compelling communicator and anyone in this field should have the experience of working with a mind like his, one as intelligent as it is passionate. Every single actor in this play is a gift to our Verona. A very good friend of mine and mentor often reminds me, “if you are the smartest person in the room you should walk out.” I couldn’t be farther away from the door. I learn volumes by watching the likes of Scott Greer and Suzanne O’Donnell, Tony Lawton, I could go through the cast and tell you how each person, literally every person has a mind or a presence I envy.

I will attempt to delve into the relationship with my most active scene partner, Juliet, Mahira Kakkar. We are both in committed relationship in our real lives and happily so, In the strange world where make believe and reality cross paths I could not find myself in the eyes, arms and lips of a more open soul. My eyes well up at the thought of this process and this story being over, even before a single person has seen the result of our efforts.

Tonight we put our costumes on. Tonight we put the pieces of the story back together, now that we can wear the lights and songs and our set like a comfortable sweater. Tonight we hate and love and everything in between again. in my estimation I am the luckiest person in the world.

When In Doubt

By Brittany Howard, Arden Professional Apprentice

I have entered an entirely new world – a world where a sharpened pencil is worth more than gold, where you can expect your phone to ring if you’re even a minute late, and where a person’s every move is watched and recorded. I’m not talking about Orwellian literature or some future dystopian society. I’m not even talking about a reality TV show.

I’m talking about assistant stage managing Romeo and Juliet.

What does an assistant stage manager do? More like… what doesn’t an assistant stage manager do?

You might see me pulling jackets from costume storage for the actors to practice with or maybe in the basement sanding down the sharp edges on one of the knives used in the production. Some patrons attending Blue Door recently may have even heard us rehearsing the fights in the Independence Foundation Studio (trust me, they look as real as they sound).

I have no experience in stage management (or at least, I didn’t), but every Arden Apprentice gets to assistant stage manage a production during their time here. When I was assigned Romeo and Juliet, I wasn’t entirely sure what to feel. I love Shakespeare. My mom is an English teacher, and I grew up living and breathing language. But of all the plays I pretentiously quoted in High school, and feverishly studied in College, I was never really attracted to the “greatest love story of all time.”

Why?

Because I’m too much of a cynic. Now, I know I’m not alone here. Odds are more than half of you reading are just as skeptical as me. Everyone thinks they’ve seen or heard this story a dozen times over, and that each production is as cliche as the last. And Matt Pfeiffer, the director, made plain at the first rehearsal that the actors, designers, and production team would have to pull out all the stops to prove that this story is worth the weight that history has given it.

Once upon a time, I might have told you that Romeo and Juliet was my least favorite Shakespeare play, and now I get so sucked into the story during rehearsal that I forget I’m supposed to be looking for what actor exits where and who is carrying what prop – and that’s after already having watched the play 6 days a week, eight hours a day. We haven’t even entered tech rehearsals yet, and I can safely say that they’ve already broken through my skepticism.

Once the production opens, the actors will only have about two hours to convey this iconic story and win over all the cynics in the house.

But whatever happens – every performance, back in the wings, dressed in black, there will be me.

One doubter down.

First Rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet

By Evan Jonigkeit, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet

Yesterday was our first rehearsal. I walked in with trepidation as I do with many of my projects, wondering if I will be able to pull it off essentially. Romeo and Juliet, being iconographic, sits on a plane above most in the gut tingling nerves area. I have learned that these first rehearsal nerves I have come to expect are, for me, a catalyst for work ethic. I realize the only way to move past the uncertainty of a thing is to know it and contest it backwards, forwards and sideways so I am able, hopefully, to make fearless and unapologetic choices.

I entered the room of the Arden’s rehearsal hall, with its unpainted walls and scattered props from shows past, even some of the rolling tables I came to love and cherish as a security blanket in the world of The History Boys. I remembered immediately something about how the history of this place (like many theatres) somehow holds your hand as an artist to make you trust what you are about to embark on. When my body was done taking in that ethereal first breath, my eyes focused. I saw some of the most talented and lovely people that make living and working in this city a privilege. My nerves were commandeered by joy for a moment as I began my hellos. I could write the first interaction with each person in that room, however in my heightened state of the moment, I would surely bore you with the minutia of each (worth noting – Scott Greer and I agree the Mets had an awful off-season).This I will say: the coming together of two actors that worked together in the past is like closest childhood friends running into one another in the supermarket. With childhood friends we immediately remember how to play, remember it is ok to cry, they remind us of a time when it was us against everything. At least that’s what my childhood friends and I were like. With the old friends, were scattered new ones. Like Suzanne the lovely Nurse and Shawn Fagan, Mercutio (we agree the Jets really broke some hearts against the Colts, but a good season overall) and Mahira, my Juliet…

After we met with the Arden staff, many of whom have become personal friends, we began to talk. Matt Pfeiffer, our captain on this voyage towards the horizon, told us what this play is through his eyes. By the end of his thoughts, I had tears welled up in mine. It was then I knew, I wanted nothing more in that moment than to be exactly where I was, amongst these people, in this room, and living one of the greatest stories time has given us – one that has survived in our society through every renaissance or revolution and is as pertinent as any religion.

And then, with this wealth of talented individuals around a table, we read the play…

Evan will be blogging throughout the process of Romeo and Juliet, so check back often for more posts!

Romeo in Rehearsal

When In Doubt

First Rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet

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