A galaxy of star crossed lovers did burn bright
As the Stratford Festival raises the curtain on its 13th production of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ we look back at the dozen pairs who came before
Antoni Cimolino, artistic director of the Stratford Festival, knows well the demands of performing in “Romeo and Juliet.” The actor-turneddirector is part of a long line of eminent performers who have stepped into the shoes of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. It’s an experience, he says, that you can’t quite fully grasp until you’re in the midst of it.
“It tests your mettle. It draws you in completely. It’s all-consuming,” said Cimolino, who played Romeo in 1992 opposite Megan Follows’ Juliet. “I don’t think you’re quite the same afterward because you’re always better and stronger for having experienced it.”
The romantic tragedy is a staple in Stratford’s Shakespearean repertoire. Since the 1960s, not a decade has passed without a major production of the Bard’s iconic play. As the repertory company raises the curtain on its 13th production of “Romeo and Juliet” this season, starring Jonathan Mason and Vanessa Sears, here’s a look back at the dozen who have come before.
1960 A STAR-STUDDED COMPANY
It may come as a surprise that it took the Stratford Festival eight seasons to stage “Romeo and Juliet.” But the company’s inaugural production of the play arrived with a star-studded company. Romeo was played by Canadian actor Bruno Gerussi, who would go on to star in the television series “The Beachcombers.” Opposite him was theatre legend Julie Harris who, though only in her mid-30s during the run, had already collected two Tony Awards. (She would earn five throughout her career.) And Mercutio was portrayed by none other than Christopher Plummer.
1968 A ROMANCE WITH A FRENCH TOUCH
The festival’s second production of “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Douglas Campbell, transported the action to the 19th-century French empire. It starred Christopher Walken as Romeo, opposite Louise Marleau’s Juliet. In his review for the Star, theatre critic Nathan Cohen described the pair as “two of the best-looking young people to appear on the Stratford stage.” But Cohen otherwise panned the production, bemoaning Walken’s “uneven” performance and calling the show “the product of an abysmal failure” with a “terrifying lifelessness.”
1977 SCANDINAVIAN GLOOM — PLUS A BAT
On opening night of this “Romeo and Juliet,” a bat unexpectedly swooped across the Avon Theatre as Marti Maraden’s Juliet died. At least that’s according to Gina Mallet, the Star’s former theatre critic. It’s an image that feels appropriate for that production, which Mallet described as one of the gloomiest versions of the play she’s ever witnessed, set in “one of those permanently twilit Scandinavian regions.” Directed by David William, the show also starred Richard Monette as Romeo, who would go on to be longest-serving artistic director at Stratford.
1984 MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE
Stratford Festival favourites Colm Feore and Seana McKenna took on the title characters in Peter Dews’ staging of “Romeo and Juliet.” Monette, who played Romeo in 1977, was Mercutio in this iteration. It was a production that featured blistering stage fighting, which Mallet described as “spine-tingling,” adding that she hadn’t seen “a better fight than the one between Mercutio and Tybalt.” Mallet was less enthused about the two leads, however, noting their “combined energy levels (were) low” and that they’d be better suited playing Hamlet and Ophelia.
1987 A DARING, YOUNG COMPANY TAKES ON THE CLASSIC
Set in a North American military academy, this daring production of “Romeo and Juliet” featured a young company of then unknown actors, including Susan Coyne (Juliet), Marion Adler (Lady Capulet), Albert Schultz (Romeo) and Nancy Palk (Nurse). Directed by Robin Phillips, the play was staged on Stratford’s Third Stage, later the old Tom Patterson Theatre. The company were members of Stratford’s Young Company, a Shakespearean training program for emerging performers.
1992 A FORMER ROMEO DIRECTS A FUTURE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Monette, who previously played Romeo and Mercutio, stepped off the stage to direct this production the same year he was appointed as Stratford’s artistic director-designate. Starring as Romeo, in his first lead role with the company, was a young Cimolino. Opposite him, in her first Shakespearean role, was Follows, best known for playing Anne of Green Gables in the hit television miniseries of the same name. Monette’s production punted the action to the 1920s, according to the Star’s review, “with the intent of alluding to the seething ferment of a Europe rent asunder after the bloodletting of a major war.”
1997 EMOTIONAL FIREWORKS POWER THIS PRODUCTION
Follows wasn’t the only “Anne of Green Gables” alum to star in Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy in Stratford. Her co-star, the late Jonathan Crombie, stepped into the role of Romeo, appearing opposite Marion Day’s Juliet. Directed by Diana Leblanc, the production was set on a French Caribbean island. In his review for the Star, critic Geoff Chapman said this iteration was “long on elegance, attention to detail and sudden emotional fire
works, but short on classical speech well-spoken and energetic combustion.”
2002 A TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATION TO REMEMBER
Director Miles Potter’s “Romeo and Juliet” brought a relatively traditional interpretation to Shakespeare’s play — at least compared to the three versions before it. Set in Renaissance Italy, this production starred Graham Abbey and Claire Jullien as the young lovers. (Abbey played Count Paris in the 1997 production.) It was, by many accounts, a hit, with the Star’s Richard Ouzounian awarding the production a perfect four stars and calling it “a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to remember.”
2008 GUNS AND MOTOR SCOOTERS
With Uzis and motor scooters, Des McAnuff’s period-jumping production began in modern dress before shifting to the Renaissance era during the ball. Its two leads were Gareth Potter and Nikki M. James, the latter winning a Tony Award three years later for “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway. This production was also notable for its use of music, composed by Michael Roth, which served as a cinematic underscoring to the romantic tragedy.
2013 ELIZABETHAN THEATRE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Director Tim Carroll’s polarizing interpretation was billed as an “original principles” staging: trying to capture the style of actual Elizabethan theatre during Shakespeare’s time. At the Festival Theatre, that meant leaving the house lights on and using the stage lights to simulate the moving sun. Onstage, Carroll opted for minimal sets, costumes and props. Sara Topham played the young Capulet with Daniel Briere as her lover.
2017 A VIOLENT AND PASSIONATE AFFAIR
The spare physical world of Scott Wentworth’s dark and violent “Romeo and Juliet” swept aside all expectations that this would be a romantic, lovey-dovey affair. Instead, this staging leaned into the brutality of the world in which the two lovers lived. At its centre were Sara Farb’s Juliet and Antoine Yared’s Romeo, who were widely praised for their performances. Of note: Seana McKenna, a former Juliet, played the role of Juliet’s Nurse.
2021 AN OUTDOOR REIMAGINING
Stratford’s most recent production of “Romeo and Juliet” was also one of its boldest. Simply titled “R+J,” the reimagined production was adapted by Why Not Theatre’s Ravi Jain, Christine Horne and Alex Bulmer. Framed as a memory play, the narrative is told from the perspective of Bulmer’s Friar who, like the actor, is blind. Mounted in the midst of the pandemic, “R+J” was staged in an outdoor tent. Teenager Eponine Lee played Juliet while Dante Jemmott tackled the role of Romeo.