Ball State professor Michael Daehn has never seen such violence on a Ball State stage as when he watched the cast of "Romeo and Juliet" rehearse for tonight's opening show.
“Some people might say that they’re a lover, not a fighter,” Daehn, the director, said. “In this play, you are a lover and a fighter. I think this is the most ferocious fighting I’ve seen on the Ball State stage since I’ve been here. I get scared for these people on stage sometimes because they all look like they are really [fighting] than pretending they are.”
Daehn said he believes “Romeo and Juliet” is the greatest love story ever written. For Ball State’s performance, he decided to keep the play in the original Renaissance time period.
The staging for this production is set up to resemble a pop-up book. Between scenes, members of the stage crew bring out various props and pop-up pieces from a page in the book design. One page remains the same throughout the play: A building landscape with a lit sky and phase-changing moon.
“I made a comment to the designer about how the world of the Montagues and the Capulets is a lot like a pop-up book for kids,” Daehn said. “When kids are looking at a pop-up book for about the first week, everything is great and something tears. If it tears, you just can’t get it back into the book the same way again. If anything tears in the fragile fabric of the Montagues and the Capulets’ world, it’s going to be a disaster as well.”
Tonight is the first night for “Romeo and Juliet,” at 7 p.m. in the University Theatre. The production will continue to run through Sept. 28 for 7 p.m. showings. There also is a matinee show at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Students can purchase tickets for $8 at the University Theatre Box Office. This also is a Freshman Connections event, meaning first-year students are eligible to receive one free ticket. For more information, contact the box office at 765-285-8749.
