By Mike Hoban
Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Peter DuBois; Scenic Design, Wilson Chin; Costume Design, Ilona Somogyi; Lighting Design, Russell H. Champa; Original Music & Sound Design, Obadiah Eaves; Choreographer, Daniel Pelzig; Fight Direction, Rick Sordelet & Christian Kelly-Sordelet. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at 264 Huntington Ave., Boston through March 31
Over the years there have been a multitude of theatrical updates of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s tragic tale of doomed teen lovers, with the best of those inarguably being the Bernstein/Laurents/Sondheim masterpiece, West Side Story. The latest take comes from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Peter Dubois, who – with the help of a plethora of Boston’s local stage luminaries – transports the story into the 21st century while leaving the original text intact. It’s a surprisingly comic and wildly entertaining version of the classic, but it also does an admirable job of driving home the idea that the toxic “blind tribalism” that is threatening to destroy democracy in America today is hardly a new development.
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