JULIET & JUL-YINGTAI to Play White Eagle Hall in Jersey City

Following a run in Dorchester, MA, Vermilion Theater brings the bilingual play Juliet & Jul-Yingtai to Jersey City this October. Presented in collaboration with Jersey City Theater Center, the production will play two performances only - Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, 2026 - at White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ).

Juliet & Jul-Yingtai is written by Wisteria Deng and Melvin Yen, with songs by Panzhen Wu. The production places Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet directly alongside The Butterfly Lovers (梁山伯与祝英台), a Chinese legend as central to Chinese culture as Romeo and Juliet is to Western culture, reimagining both as a single, intertwined story told in English and Mandarin.

'This play is a praise for the power of writing, telling and remembering one's story. It documents two women's pursuit of safety and guardianship of their own choice. When institutions only permit black-and-white options, watch how they carve out 'a third box.''

Tickets are available at the links above. For more information, visit Vermilion Theater on Instagram @vermilion_theater or at vermiliontheater.com.

Set in a psychiatric institute in New Jersey, the play follows Julie, an Asian American woman accused of killing her abusive husband in self-defense, and Jul, the therapist assigned to her care. Unbeknownst to them, the two are carrying fragments of two tragic love stories accidentally crossed centuries ago in the afterlife's South Gate Archive - Julie dreams of Hangzhou, Jul dreams of Verona. As their sessions unfold, Juliet & Jul-Yingtai asks whether an inherited ending must always repeat itself, or whether two people can choose one that finally belongs to them.

The production is directed by Sissi Xiqian Chen and features Samantha Haughton as Juliet/Julie, Colum Greeley as Romeo/Ox-Head, Timmy Ong as Liang Shanbo/Horse-Face, 黎珈璐 as Meng Po/Guard, and Lebing Lavender Zhuang as Jul-Yingtai/Jul.

The creative team includes scenic design by Ruomeng Li and Dongmin (Devon) Sun, costume design by Lyle Laize Qin, lighting design by Yung-Hung Sung, sound design by Silvan Tang, projection and visual design by Josh Sun, and dramaturgy by Sissi Xiqian Chen.

'Juliet and Jul-Yingtai have always felt like the same story to me, just told in different rooms,' said Wisteria Deng, who co-wrote the play with Melvin Yen. 'Putting them side by side let us ask what it means to inherit a tragedy - and whether love and agency can look different the second time around.'

Juliet & Jul-Yingtai is produced by Vermilion Theater in collaboration with Jersey City Theater Center. Anna Rui Dou serves as the Executive Producer, while Ziqi Zhang serves as Producer for Vermilion Theater. Ruihan Renee Yang serves as Production Stage Manager, Xinyue Tang as Marketing & Publicity Manager, Kaye Huiyuan Hu as General Manager, and Emma Song as Production Manager.