Joe Calarco's ROMEO AND JULIET to be Presented by The Shakespeare Company and Sage Theatre
The cast features Jaime Cesar, Brett Dahl, Joel David Taylor, and Bernardo Pacheco Sosa as Students, with Ben Gaudet serving as the Universal Understudy.
What happens when four young men in a rigid, repressive college environment encounter the greatest love story ever told? The Shakespeare Company and Sage Theatre, with the support of Calgary Young People's Theatre, present Joe Calarco's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet at West Village Theatre, from February 20 - 28, 2026.
Set within the confines of an all-male college, the production follows four students whose tightly governed lives leave little room for curiosity, vulnerability, or self-expression. One evening, after class, a copy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is pulled from a bag — and everything changes. As the students take turns reading the play aloud, the language electrifies them. The story awakens longing, rebellion, and possibility.
"This script reminds us that Shakespeare is at his most vital and compelling when it is welded to modern life, to the world outside our window. Coupled with Javier Vilalta's bold directorial style, this means that this is no academic experience of a classic, this is an intimate experience with the challenges of love, expressed at the intersection of youth, masculinity, and language,” said Jason Mahmel, Sage Theatre's Artistic Director.
What begins as an innocent act of shared storytelling soon becomes a dangerous transgression. Breaking school rules to continue their readings, the students find their own lives increasingly mirroring the world of Shakespeare's lovers — grappling with identity, desire, duty, and the rigid roles imposed by family, society, and gender.
Calarco's adaptation is both theatrical and deeply personal, blurring the line between reader and character as the students embody Shakespeare's words. The result is a powerful exploration of first love, self-discovery, and the transformative force of art, told with urgency, tenderness, and raw emotion.
"Shakespeare's R&J was the first contemporary script on my to do list when I took over The Shakespeare Company. With Javier at the helm, it promises to be an unforgettable experience,” added Richard Beaune, Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Company.
The cast features Jaime Cesar, Brett Dahl, Joel David Taylor, and Bernardo Pacheco Sosa as Students, with Ben Gaudet serving as the Universal Understudy.
The creative team includes director Javier Vilalta; producer and text coach Richard Beaune; lighting designer Tauran; sound designer and composer Kristin Eveleigh; set designer and builder Jake Rose; costume supervisor Tonisha Kroger; fight director Jeffrey Ilynek; intimacy director Anastasia St Amand; and publicist Aldona Barutowicz.
This evocative production invites audiences to experience Romeo and Juliet anew, through the eyes of young men discovering not only Shakespeare, but themselves. Performances will run from February 20 - 28, 2026.
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