ROMEO AND JULIET Plays The Shakespeare Tavern 2/3-3/6

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company at The New American Shakespeare Tavern presents an all new production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Drew Reeves
Featuring married couple Matt Felten as Romeo and Kelly Criss as Juliet
$12 General Admission Previews Thursday February 3 & Friday February 4, 2011
Runs February 5-March 6, 2011

We invite you to join us for our 12th anniversary of performing this play about young lovers, feuding families and one Friar with good intentions.

Join the cast and crew members for a Question and Answer session on Sunday February 13 after the show!

Romeo and Juliet

Directed by Drew Reeves

Production Stage Manager - Cindy Kearns*
Assistant Stage Manager - Deborah McGriff*

Costume Designer - Anné Carole Butler

Juliet - Kelly Criss

Romeo - Matt Felten

Mercutio - J.C. Long*

Benvolio - Brian Mayberry

Tybalt - Daniel Parvis

Friar Lawrence - Jeff McKerley*

Friar John - William S. Murphey*

Lord Capulet - John Curran

Lady Capulet - Mary Saville

Prince - Matt Nitchie

Lord Montague - William S. Murphey*

Lady Montague - Rachel Frawley

Peter - William S. Murphey*

Paris - JoNathan Horne

Nurse - Josie Burgin Lawson

Abraham - Jeff McKerley*

Gregory - J.C. Long

Sampson - JoNathan Horne

Balthasar - John Stephen King

Paris' Page - Brian Mayberry

The Watch - Daniel Parvis, J.C. Long*, Rachel Frawley

Maskers - Jeff McKerley*, Rachel Frawley, Matt Nitchie

Servants - Rachel Frawley, Matt Nitchie, John Stephen King

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Director's Playbill Notes

Cut it out!
The last time I directed Romeo & Juliet, my notes dwelt on what I love about the play. This time, however, I wish to turn 'Geek' and discuss cutting text.
A contemporary playwright will write down an entire play and obtain a copyright for their work. If their play is successful, they will publish it. All future producers of the play will be obligated to stick to the words as written and approved by the playwright.

William Shakespeare never published any of his plays, nor did they have the strict copyright laws we now have. Seven years after he died, two members of his company published a collection of his plays called the First Folio. For half of the plays he wrote, this is the first time they were ever published, and they would have otherwise been lost forever. The other half of his plays were published during his life in individual copies that were called Quartos. There are some Quartos he authorized which are called the Good Quartos. There were also some actors who basically stole his plays and published them to make money, usually bastardizing the text because they were going by memory. These are called the Bad Quartos.

There are many of us who believe the First Folio is the best source for performance. It was compiled by actors who had performed in the plays. They apparently went to great pains to gather as many of Shakespeare's actual notes as possible. This massive project was to honor Shakespeare's work, not to make money from his name as did the actors who published the Bad Quartos.

So there is no single authoritative text actually written by Shakespeare's hand. If you buy a paperback version it will contain many re-writes done by editors who over the last two hundred years have 'corrected' Shakespeare to make it easier for readers. The will not only change the punctuation and spelling to conform to our contemporary 'rules', but they will also alter words, lines, and sometimes entire speeches.

Now to the point I've been leading to. Though I believe in sticking to Shakespeare's words and intent as much as is possible, all directors and actors of Shakespeare still have to go by conjecture and make choices as to what version of words and lines to use. We also have to decide what to cut.
An uncut production of a Shakespeare play is a very rare event. There are passages and sometimes full scenes so obscure that their meaning or purpose is lost to us. There are also sections that were written to honor Queen Elizabeth or King James, or to make reference to an event current to Shakespeare's time, that serve no purpose to the story of the play. Evidence indicates that even when Shakespeare's company was performing these plays that the text was malleable. They would cut or sometimes add text per performance. This was for a variety of reasons, including who was in the audience or how many actors they had in the company at a given time. If they were touring the show to the provinces, they may have heavily cut it both for budget concerns and the realization they were playing mostly to Groundlings, an Elizabethan theatrical term for the 'common people'. In other words people like us. They were more interested in entertainment rather than pomp and circumstance.
The last time I directed Romeo & Juliet, I experimented with a 'Full Text' version. I put together all of the existing scenes and dialogue from all of the sources. This included scenes and lines never before seen or heard on this stage. This time, I am giving you the heaviest cut version of the play the Atlanta Shakespeare Company has ever done. I like to think of it as the 'Groundling Version'. We are here to serve our audience. Some of whom will intellectually prefer full text. Some of you, however, will prefer going home an hour-and-a-half earlier while still getting the whole story. This one's for you.

Performance days & times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 6:30 PM. 10 AM most Tuesday and Wednesdays.
Additional show times added for the following production:

Romeo and Juliet - Monday Feb 14 at 7:30pm

Ticket Prices:

Seating areas: Main Floor Seats, Box Seats (on floor) and Balcony Seats
Regular Ticket Prices:

Thurs night:

Main: $20

Box: $17

Balcony: $12
Friday night:

Main: $28

Box: $24

Balcony: $22
Saturday night:

Main: $32

Box: $28

Balcony: $24
Sunday night:

Main: $24

Box: $20

Balcony: $15

An 8% sales tax is added on top of all purchases made at The Shakespeare Tavern.

Discount Ticket Options: $12 tickets for Previews (unless otherwise noted);. Student/Educator prices: $5 off per price level per night except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Not valid on Saturday nights. $12 for 10am matinees. $3 off for Military, Seniors, Groups of 10 or more, except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Promotional discount offers are not valid closing weekend of a performance.

Purchase Tickets Online for most performances at www.shakespearetavern.com

For information on:

The Shakespeare Club Program and Flex Pass: call or email The Tavern Box Office at 404.874.5299 or boxoffice@shakespearetavern.com or visit our website at www.shakespearetavern.com

Education Programs and Workshops: call or email Laura Cole, Education Director at 404-874-5299, X58 or laura@shakespearetavern.com
Volunteer Opportunities: call or email Suzanne Mercer, Volunteer Coordinator at

404-874-5299, X59 or suzanne@shakespearetavern.com

Accessibility and The Shakespeare Tavern: The Shakespeare Tavern is handicapped accessible. Please let the box office know if you have any special needs that we should be aware of in order to make your Shakespeare Tavern experience the very best we can. Our handicapped entrance ramp/parking is located directly behind our building. Once you turn onto Renaissance Parkway from Peachtree Street, you will turn right onto Courtland Street. The Tavern's back entrance will be immediately on your right once you clear the building on the corner and the traffic poles. The turn comes up quickly, so please drive slowly. Handicapped parking is directly in front of the ramp, behind our building.
Location: The New American Shakespeare Tavern is located at 499 Peachtree Street, NE, just four blocks south of The Fox Theater and directly across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Parking: In the evening, we recommend parking in the Emory University Hospital Midtown Parking Deck located directly across the street from the front doors of The Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Street. Bring your ticket stub to the parking lot attendant at the end of the night and get a discounted parking price. (Regular parking price is $7; discounted price is $4 WITH TICKET STUB!)

We also recommend parking in the InterPark Parking lot, located on the corner of Peachtree and Renaissance Parkway. This is a paid surface lot that should be attended. Parking is usually $5-$7.

DO NOT park on Pine Street or in the empty parking lots on Pine Street. Your car might be booted if you park in these lots.

Food and Beverage Service: The Tavern opens one hour and fifteen minutes before the performance for food and beverage service. Chef for a Night provides a British-pub-style menu for dinner. The Tavern has a beer, wine, coffee, tea, and soft drink bar that serves Bass and Guinness on tap.

Seating and Box Office: Seating is done on a "first come, first served" basis within each designated section. Table seating is limited however all seats can accommodate food and beverages. For reservations or more information, call or email The Tavern Box Office at 404.874.5299 or boxoffice@shakespearetavern.com or order tickets on-line at www.shakespearetavern.com