Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"

Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: Doctorow Center for the Arts, 7971 Main Street, Route 23A, Village of Hunter
More Information/Reservations: Call 518 263 2063

Theater 2020 is very pleased to announce its inaugural production, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Thursday, at the Catskill Mountain Foundation on Saturday, August 6.

This is "Romeo & Juliet" with a Muslim/Hindu theme that was inspired by recent news events. It will be a fast paced 90 minute version with eight actors and four puppets. The show will be performed at Saint Charles Borromeo Church and Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights, before touring to the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, NY. The production will be the first in the new "Bard at Pier One" series in the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

A troupe of eight skilled street performers tells this timeless tale of adolescent love through the prism of 21st Century attitudes and prejudices: when a Hindu and a Muslim fall in love at first sight, sparks fly, igniting centuries-old tribal passions. Love and laughter are followed by death and despair: why must it take tragedy to bury ancient animosities?

Creative team: Director David Fuller, (Theater Ten Ten, Jean Cocteau Rep), Choreographer Judith Jarosz & Poonam Basu, Set & Lighting consultant Giles Hogya, Costume Designer Lynn Marie Macy, Production Stage Manager Cynthia Hennon Marino, ASM Mackenzie Beth Ginsburg.

Cast: Poonam Basu, Justin Bennett*, Vandit Bhatt*, Marc Andrew Hem Lee, Kareem M. Lucas, Lynn Marie Macy, Brandie Moore, and Nicholas Pollifrone. (*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association)

From the Press:

"The inaugural production of this Brooklyn company is an updated Romeo and Juliet with a Hindu Romeo falling for a Muslim Juliet. Free performances in Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo are part of the Bard on Pier 1 program. 'Good theater benefits all theater,' said Judith Jarosz, a producing artistic director (with David Fuller) of Theater 2020."
- Steven McElroy, The New York Times

"Theatergoers who want to see a Shakespeare play this summer without burning a hole in their wallet might try Theater 2020's Romeo and Juliet. The production is highly original in its cross-cultural setting and retooling of its protagonists as a Muslim and a Hindu."

"Fuller takes a commanding hold of the play."

"This compact production has real power and verve."

"The fighting scenes (fight direction also by David Fuller) are executed both in the altar area and in the center aisle, a hair's breadth from the audience. The Act 5 sword duel between Romeo and Paris in particular, is quite breath-taking."

"This is the inaugural production of Theater 2020, which touts itself as the first professional theater company in Brooklyn Heights. And based on their first theatrical effort, the company is worth watching."
- Deirdre Donovan, CurtainUp.com (To read the entire review, click here)

"Clearly the RSC shows are the snob event of the season. But for those who love the Bard and don't want to burn a hole in their wallets, Deirdre Donovan, our intrepid explorer of all things Shakespeare recommends a subway ride to Brooklyn heights to take in Theater 2020's FREE Romeo and Juliet."
- Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp blog annex

"Theater 2020, a new Brooklyn Heights-based company, puts a new twist on Shakespeare's enduring love story with a Hindu Romeo and Muslim Juliet in its production of "Romeo and Juliet."
- Meredith DeLiso, The Brooklyn Paper