Romeo and Juliet - Love is a Fire at Santa Monica Playhouse

Romeo and Juliet - Love is a Fire, a tragedy by William Shakespeare for this occasion adapted by Neno Pervan.

A young, lovesick boy falls instantly in love with a young girl, and she passionately and momentarily loves him back. Their love is bigger than life. Alas, their influential, rich families are locked into a decades-old vendetta. This leads to tragedy. We all know this basic plot of Romeo and Juliet. We know how and where it starts and how it ends. We all recognize it as one of the great love stories.

Yet, we do not know – why? Why do these young lovers have to die? Why do their respective families hate each other so much? Shakespeare did not tell us. We will try to find out. We respect the Bard’s timeless verse, but we are creating our own Verona. Our Romeo and Juliet, and their Love, are on Fire.

Il Dolce Theatre Company is an ad-hoc self-financed theatre company that brings socially and politically engaged plays by well and lesser-known playwrights from Central and Southeastern Europe to audiences in Los Angeles. Its main goal is to cultivate theatre that is unfamiliar in LA and use it to inform and enrich theatre-goers.