ROMEO AND JULIET Opens March 1 at Stoneham Theatre

The 12th season at Stoneham Theatre continues with Romeo and Juliet, the theatre's first-ever Shakespearian production. The play opens March 1 and will run through March 18.

Co-Directed by Stoneham Theatre's Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes and Director of Education Caitlin Lowans, the play is set in modern times - approximately the 1990s - and the actors are in contemporary dress. However, the language of Shakespeare is unchanged. The result is a drama that retains all of the romance and tragedy of the Elizabethan era while offering new insights into the functioning and failings of families today.

The casting for the production is age-appropriate, with teenage actors playing teenage roles and adult actors playing the grownups. This concept for Romeo and Juliet took hold just recently. Lowans directed a highly successful production of the musical 13! as part of the young company at Stoneham Theatre, the organization's year-round theatrical education program. Symes directed a Mainstage professional production of Lanford Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch that featured a cast of 17 actors, three of whom were teenagers actively engaged in the young company.

Says Symes, "It struck me from the first day of rehearsal that our education program had matured to such a degree that the teen actors were more than capable of holding their own with card-carrying Equity actors."

For Romeo and Juliet, Symes and Lowans split the cast roughly in half, with nine professional actors, many of which have performed in previous professional Stoneham Theatre productions, and 11 teenagers.

Cambridge residents Diego Buscaglia and Lily Steven star as Romeo and Juliet. Lily is a sophomore at Cambridge School in Weston. She has played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Wendy in Peter Pan; Ursula in The Little Mermaid; and Glinda in The Wiz. She has also appeared in A Christmas Carol at the New Repertory Theatre and in A Civil War Christmas at Huntington Theatre.

Diego is a 2010 graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Following graduation he spent a year at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. This will be his second Shakespearian production; he previously appeared in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

"Ever since I first read Romeo and Juliet, it's been my dream to play the part of the 'young waverer.' It has been a fantastic experience, and it is hard to convey how much I feel that I owe to every woman who has ever inspired me to recite 'But soft! What light...'"said Diego at a recent rehearsal.

Tickets are $48 for Premium Seating and $42 for Standard Seating. Students in Melrose, Stoneham, and Wakefield may see Romeo and Juliet and any other Stoneham Theatre Mainstage show for $3.00. Use Code DFS online or at box office. Valid student ID or proof of residence needed when picking up tickets. Senior discounts also available.

Cast:

Prince: Steven Barkhimer* (Brookline); Paris: Luke Murtha (Boston); Lord Montague: Christopher James Webb* (Watertown); Lord Capulet: Richard Arum* (Haverhill); Romeo: Diego Buscaglia (Cambridge); Benvolio: Aidan Down (Cambridge); Balthasar: Kyle McAdam (North Andover); Sampson: Scott McGrath (North Reading); Gregory: Casey McKinney (Cambridge); Paris: Luke Murtha (Boston); Tybalt: Avery Powers (Acton); Abraham: Jonathan Vellante (North Andover); Friar Laurence: Mac Young (Jamaica Plain); Peter: Shelby Geaney (Lynn); Capulet Teen: Jakob Michaels (Stoneham); Montague Teen: Justin Katz (Stoneham); Apothecary and Attendant: Dan Kelly (Walpole)

Lady Capulet: Claire Warden* (New York); Juliet: Lily Steven (Cambridge); Nurse: Aimee Doherty* (Walpole); Mercutio: Hannah Woodsum (West Roxbury)

Royal Ensemble: Dan Kelly (Walpole); Attendant: Jakob Michaels (Stoneham); Meredith Stypinski (Webster, NH)

Directors:

Weylin Symes, Caitlin Lowans

*denotes member of Actor's Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

Performance Times:

Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.

Fridays at 8:00 p.m.

Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

Pay What You Can Nights: Thursday, March 1st, 8th and 15th at 7:30 p.m.

Sponsored by MelRose Cooperative Bank. First come, first served, with tickets available one hour before performance.

Student Matinees:

Wednesday, March 7th - 10:00 a.m.

Thursday, March 8th - 10:00 a.m.

Tuesday, March 13th - 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday, March 14th - 10:00 a.m.

Stoneham Theatre

395 Main Street

Stoneham, MA 02180

Box Office: (781) 279-2200