Entertainment
12 June, 2024
Classic story comes to life
COMEDY, drama, passionate romance and tragedy will come to the fore in the latest production for Atherton Performing Arts which starts this week at the Silo Theatre complex.
“Romeo and Juliet” will run from this Friday night until 23 June and promises to be an impressive production.
Director Sarah Riber said that after the recent successes of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Twelfth Night” by the youth theatre production, the company decided to tackle a favourite of theirs, “Romeo and Juliet”.
“I've directed a lot of productions for APA but I think this one will really impress everyone with its combination of incredible fight sequences and powerful acting,” Ms Riber said.
“The actors really take it to the next level with the comedy and passionate romance in the first half and the drama and tragedy of the second half.
“Anyone familiar with the play will also love some of the new twists and interpretations that we have brought to the classic story, through our innovative staging.”
The sets were put together by regular designers Rob Mian and Antonia Chew, made to look like a ruined city, evoking a post-apocalyptic grit.
It was important to the directors that the leads be played by teenagers and the supporting cast fleshed out with more adult actors in order to add more authenticity to the portrayal.
“I have often been frustrated to see productions where Romeo and Juliet, these quintessentially teenage roles are played by older actors, so we were adamant that we wanted to cast teenagers in these roles,” Ms Riber said.
“However, we really needed older actors as the adults to create the realism that this powerful play really needs, so we made it a mainstage production.”
Co-director Geo Toner has experience as a fight coordinator and has brought both her fight choreography and acting skills to the scenes as she is cast as Mercutio.
The company has double cast the roles of both Romeo and Juliet, to be played by Meenakshi Riber and Kye Ghelfi as Romeo and Clementine Barker and Chelsea Webb as Juliet.
“We are so excited to share this production with the community - you won't want to miss this show!” Ms Riber said.
Tickets range from $15-$25 can be purchased from www.athertonperformingarts.com.au
The youth theatre group will be presenting the comedy “Epic Story” later this year.
