IMMORTAL LONGINGS

posted by James Reel

Here’s a review of a play in which I get to bring in a reference to music and dancing, too:

Last year, choreographer Mark Morris revived the 1935 original version of the Soviet ballet treatment of _Romeo and Juliet_ by composer Sergei Prokofiev and dramatist Sergei Radlov. Not Shakespeare's original version, but Prokofiev's original version: Juliet recovers from her drug-induced coma just in time to keep the despairing Romeo from killing himself, and the young lovers conclude their story with a dance of joy. Prokofiev and his colleagues decided to junk the happy ending before the ballet's premiere in the 1930s. But they seem not to have consulted Juliet. Would the 14-year-old heroine really prefer to end up dead in a cold tomb? Absolutely not, as she makes clear at the beginning of the Rogue Theatre's _Immortal Longings_, a new play written and directed by Joseph McGrath with substantial help from William Shakespeare. Ten of the bard's best-known female characters, from tragedies, comedies and histories alike, assemble to argue the merits of Juliet's plea for a happy ending. They illustrate their discussion with key scenes from their own plays. Portia, from _The Merchant of Venice_, being the one woman here with any courtroom experience, will decide Juliet's fate. This is a fine game that McGrath is playing with Shakespeare's characters, but it's also much more than that: It's a study of character motivation and the demands of tragedy, engaging and entertaining from beginning to end.

You’ll find my full review of the play in the Tucson Weekly right here.