What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1464785
PRESIDENT Brent A. Powers EDITOR Becca Martin-Brown 479-872-5054 bmartin@nwadg.com Twitter: NWAbecca REPORTERS Monica Hooper mhooper@nwadg.com April Wallace awallace@nwadg.com (479) 770-3746 DESIGNER Deb Harvell ! UP WHAT'S ON THE COVER For buffets, family style meals, or coursed and plated menus, Burning Cedar offers "a range of options, from exclusively pre-contact foods, to blends of both Indigenous and post-contact foods, to Native-in- spired modern American cuisine." (COURTESY PHOTO) What's Up! is a publication of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 38 WHAT'S UP! APRIL 17-23, 2022 "We have a wide range," Dolan says. "Picking 'Romeo and Juliet' allows … room for a lot of actors without a background in theater, a lot of smaller roles so we can train people up who are interested in theater but not with the experience." Since "Romeo and Juliet" can be adapted in so many ways, Dolan says it was a perfect fit for reenvisioning. This production will keep the same words and themes of Shakespeare's romance, but the visual and musical parts will be fresh elements to the tale. The sets are constructed with furniture painted charcoal black and have bespoke quotes on them. The bed's headboard, for instance, says "Give me my sin again," and one wall reads "These violent delights have violent ends." Costumes are similar to what you'd see in a dance production: antique slips, corsets and men's blouses, except that these are all dyed red and pink. Dolan likes to begin her set designs with a vision based solely on color. She hopes the combination of these costumes and sets will create a sort of timeless effect to give possibility to imagine that any time period is happening, she says. If you're still skeptical and wishing they wouldn't mess with Shakespeare's masterpiece, Dolan would urge you not to grow too concerned. Arts One is using the same script as the one used for the National Theatre in London production with Josh O'Connor, for a run time of one hour and 45 minutes. "For those who are worried we ruined Shakespeare or have taken away the beloved tale, the story is there, the love is there — and the sword fighting too," Dolan says. Audiences can look forward to five epic battles over the course of the show, choreographed by a local ballet instructor from Ozark Ballet Theatre. "These are high-stakes, exciting clashes." The only real change to the characters is a switch of personalities for Lord Capulet. Ordinarily portrayed as perhaps a drunk, abusive, domineering male figure, Dolan thought it would be interesting to see those traits in a woman, so she assigned those characteristics to Lady Capulet. "If you give her the power and ferocity, she becomes this dynamic, interesting character," Dolan says. Played by Sarah Nicholson, Lady Capulet is divine, ferocious and anyone should be afraid to be her daughter. For anyone still concerned about approaching Shakespeare for fear of not easily understanding the way the actors will speak, she has two assurances. One, the soundtrack will be entirely contemporary, bringing context to the production through recognizable rock, EDM and R&B music of the 1990s to now with the help of two DJs. And most of all, the cast will do the heavy lifting for them. "Bringing in a cast that understands the (play) as much as they do, they bring it to life and put in the emotion that allows you to understand it in a way you wouldn't on paper," she says. "The text hasn't changed, the prose is still there, but the way we present them are all out of time, which brings the contemporary twist." Romeo + Juliet Continued From Page 6 FEATURE Presented in three-quarter round staging, "Romeo + Juliet" will bring the audience up close and personal to the tragedy. Fight choreography for the play was created by a ballet instructor from Ozark Ballet Theatre. (Courtesy Photo/AOP)