Smith Street Stage celebrates a decade of theater in Carroll Gardens

Smith Street Stage (SSS) has produced free Shakespeare at Carroll Park for 10 years. Starting with a five-actor adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the company always looks for new ways to tell classic stories, making their productions deeply meaningful and easily accessible. Since that inaugural production, SSS has grown to more than 40 artists each year, performing for thousands of audience members all over the city and receiving New York Innovative Theater Awards across multiple seasons.

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary this summer, the company will once again perform Romeo and Juliet. A long-standing feud between two wealthy families causes both chaos in the city of Verona and tragic results for two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Love, vengeance and an elopement force the star-crossed lovers to grow up quickly – and fate causes them to commit suicide in despair. It’s the most famous “love at first sight” story and a classic tale of love and loss.

The director’s perspective

Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy, who serves on SSS’s artistic board and has acted in five SSS productions, will be directing Romeo and Juliet using a modern setting.

“It’s a tragic story [where] the love really doesn’t work out, but when it is working, it’s beautiful, sweet and changes the air,” she told us the day after the ensemble’s first read-through on May 9. “I think there’s a lot of pain and divisiveness in our culture right now. I think doing a play that reminds us of the beauty and power of love – [as well as] the tragedy of forgiveness – is really needed.”

Fauntleroy explained that she was asked to direct this play right after the U.S. government shutdown had concluded, which helped influence the direction she’d take with it.

“I was really struck by how the lives of everyday citizens quickly descended to chaos,” she said. “There were people deciding whether or not to take their insulin or trying to figure out whether or not to continue with chemo – and this was just from a month or a month and a half of not having a paycheck.”

She noted that those in power seemed to be fine throughout the shutdown’s duration, and made the connection between them and the fictional, wealthy families in Romeo and Juliet.

“The Montagues and Capulets have created a feud that has very negatively affected Verona, but it hasn’t really affected them until their kids fall in love,” she said. “We’re setting it in a Verona that has been economically affected by the feuds, so the people who aren’t wealthy are really struggling.

Speaking with the stars

This production also features a diverse cast with some who have done the play before, some who haven’t and some who’ve just joined the SSS family. Actor Noah Anderson, for example, will be making his debut with SSS as Romeo. He told us this is his first time acting in a Romeo and Juliet production, though he had read and studied the play during his academic studies. He recalled that in college he was taught to learn and understand who Shakespeare was, what his classics were and how to speak heightened text.

“It wasn’t until a few months ago [when] I picked up a sonnet, started speaking it and said, ‘Oh, I’m really starting to understand this.’ You just have to speak the words, know what they mean and where they’re coming from, and be honest,” Anderson said. “I’m really thankful and excited to play this part because it’s not something everyone has the opportunity to do and it’s not something you can do forever.”

Playing the Juliet to Anderson’s Romeo is actress Katie Willmorth. She said she was more familiar with the play, having worked on excerpts in school and in scene study and even portraying Lady Capulet in the 2017 Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival WillPower tour. However, she’s excited to be playing Juliet this time around.

“I feel like I’ve been prepping to play [Juliet] for years because, at least for myself, it was a role I was always attracted to. She’s a really deep, intelligent and complex young woman,” Willmorth explained. “What I’ve been trying to do – which is hard to do with a play and a role as familiar as this one – is try and strip away the expectations of what it has to be and really just look at the words on the page, and the circumstance that she finds herself in, and discover it in a new way.”

Though both had spoken with us on the second night of rehearsals in mid-May, Anderson and Willmorth both agreed that the balcony scene was the one they were most excited to stage. They also said that they met for the first time during that scene in their audition together.

“Even that is kind of funny because, also in the play, Romeo and Juliet barely know each other. That scene is where they really get to make their first impression on each other, so in a way it’s kind of perfect, I think,” Willmorth added. “The whole play happens because of their separation. The relationship between the two of them is juxtaposed with the lives that they live, which are keeping them apart.”

CARROLL PARK

Since SSS comes to Carroll Park every year, there is a loyal fan base among local residents and theatre lovers who get to experience theatre in an intimate, outdoor setting. Even some children in the neighborhood have literally grown up seeing the various productions over the last 10 years.

“That’s one of the special things about doing shows here; we’re not just doing shows for our SSS family, but for an audience [too],” Fauntleroy said. “We’re literally serving this community in the best way we know how, artistically. I think that’s a really key component of these shows.”

For Anderson, he’s very excited to be a part of doing and providing quality work to Brooklyn at no charge to attendees.

“Luxury theatre is really where we’re at these days, especially with Broadway, and so it’s nice to be a part of some work that’s open to the public for free and it’s going to be really good at the same time,” he said. “It’s really important to me that theatre and performance … comes back into the forefront of how can we do quality work for a low cost, for as many people as possible – especially for people who don’t know what theatre is.”

Previews will be held on June 12 and 13 – with a talk-forward with the director and cast from 6:30 to 7 pm on the 12th. Opening night is June 14 with a reception in the park following the performance with the cast and crew. Other performance dates are June 15 and 16, 20 to 23, and 27 to 30. All performances start at 7:30 pm at Carroll Park on a first-come, first-serve seating basis. This production of Romeo and Juliet is two hours long with no intermission. For more information, visit smithstreetstage.org.

Top photo courtesy of Smith Street Stage