By Holli Harms and Beatrice Walters
Romeo& Juliet Public Mobile Shakespeare Unit
WORDS FROM AN EIGHT YEAR OLD (**Beatrice Walters)
I thought that the show was the “sum of the awes.” That’s how I say AWESOME!
From a child’s view the acting was beautiful. The top 4 funniest parts were when:
(1)Romeo sits on a guy’s lap in the audience and he was staring at Juliet. And she was saying things like, “Oh Romeo, where thou … Blah blah blah blah.” And so on into the night. As she did this she looked pretty tired. And he called that BEAUTIFUL!!!!! But if you really want to learn more about how she looked, you’re going to have to see Romeo and Juliet yourself.
(2) After the young lovers became to be known as “GIRLFRIEND and BOYFRIEND” Juliet asked Romeo to go for the night. Then the second she called him back in … Romeo leapt four 1/2 feet in the air. Like a split in the air four 1/2 feet away from the floor. Whoa! Romeo is putting a little extra time on his hand and is making Juliet seem more then she costs. You know what they say, whoever wraps peanuts individually has way too much time on his or her hands. (Well that’s just worse than making peanut butter to me.)
(3) Another part that made me laugh was when Mercutio looked under Juliet’s nurse’s dress and saw her olden day underwear. Or whatever you call that big and puffy summer shorts that they use on ladies at that time that gives me the creeps. But other then that, Mercutio tried looking under the dress twice now!!!!!! But every time Mercutio become a failure at it. Bummer In The Summer.
(4) My next thing that made this eight year old laugh is when Romeo’s cousin (Benvolio) and best friend (Mercutio) joke around with Romeo about Juliet. Especially Mercutio.
WORDS FROM THE 8 YEAR OLD’S MOTHER
You know when you hear a piece of music that fills you up, where your limbs feel lighter, your heart soars, where you are transported back to a time, where all that lies ahead are possibilities and potentials? Music where you want it loud, loud enough to fill you up, to fill the room – reverberate off the walls, ceiling, floor? Where you know if you jump up and out you will be flying? Well that’s The Mobile Unit ROMEO AND JULIET.
From the first note of the violin that opens the play to the last words spoken, for 90 minutes everyone at The Public’s Shiva Theater is airborne. It is sheer energetic bliss.
We all know the story. Movies have been made about it and songs sung about it, star-crossed lovers. We all know it, but this production by The Mobile Unit is so fresh that it feels new. The directing by Lear deBessonet is inspiring. The actors leap and jump and dance and tear at a set comprised of nothing more than a large carpet, a ladder and two benches with their teeth and bodies, gnashing away with intense glee. And that ladder on wheels – with the slight of hand turned into a church for Friar Laurence, a balcony for Juliet, and a cinematic experience.
Beatrice said to me as we walked home from the play that Shakespeare is “Violent Love”. It is and it has been harnessed and is playing right now at the Public.
The Mobile Unit was created in honor of The Public’s founder Joseph Papp who believed that Shakespeare was meant for the people and who, in the beginning, took his Shakespeare to the streets – literally on a flatbed truck. There on that truck, in public spaces, the actors would bring Shakespeare’s tales to life. The Mobile Unit travels all the five boroughs taking their shows to schools and prisons and shelters. Their final stop is The Public where for a mere 20 bucks you can watch their magic unfold.
(The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit strengthens community engagement with the arts by bringing free, world-class productions of Shakespeare to communities all across New York City.)
Member price: $20
Non-Members price: $20 + fees
Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission
Written By William Shakespeare Directed By Lear deBessonet
With Sheldon Best, Jorge Eliézer Chacón, Mahira Kakkar, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Danny Rivera, David Ryan Smith, Marques Toliver, Max Woertendyke and Ayana Workman.
Scenic design by Wilson Chin, Costume design by Andrea Hood, Music composition by Marques Toliver, Choreography by Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Fight direction by Thomas Schall
The Public Theater.425 Lafayette Street THROUGH Sunday May 1
** Beatrice Walters lives in the West Village with her parents and dog Arlo Guthrie Marshmallow ( whom she named). Her favorite food is lasagna.
