The Arts / Performance

Leads in Genesius Guild's ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are contrasting

By David Burke | Friday, July 11, 2008 | () comments

Romeo is 30 years old, a veteran of numerous Genesius Guild and Prenzie Players shows, and teaches English for a living.

Juliet is 18, just graduated from high school, had never appeared in a Shakespeare play and was heading off for college when she was stunned to learn she’d been cast in the Genesius production.

Andy Koski and Aisha Ragheb have the title roles in Genesius’ production of what is arguably Shakespeare’s most recognized work as “Romeo and Juliet” opens next weekend at the Lincoln Park outdoor theater in Rock Island.

“This is pretty exciting because I’ve played a lot of supporting roles in Shakespeare, but this is really my first main one — and what a great one to start with,” said Koski, who teaches at United Township High School in East Moline and figured in auditions that he would have a better shot at playing Romeo’s friend, Mercutio.

“I’ve only been doing roles in high school, and I only decided to go out because my friends told me to,” said Ragheb, who graduated in May from Pleasant Valley High School and will enter St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., this fall. “When I got Juliet, I was very surprised since this is a new thing for me and it’s my first Shakespeare anything.”

Most of Ragheb’s roles in high school were older, character parts, but now she’s taking on Shakespeare’s famed 14-year-old.

Their ages and experience levels may be different, director Barb Carroll said, but the two had a rapport in auditions that led her to cast them.

“I liked the two of them together. Vocally, they just sounded matched,” added Carroll, a veteran Genesius member directing her fourth show.

“Andy may be a little older, but he has the ability to play youth very well. Aisha was probably the only read that I had that I felt could show the change in Juliet that I wanted,” she said. “I think Juliet, in the beginning, is a very young 14-year-old and by the time the play ends, she’s very much a woman. She’s the one that makes the consequence happen. Aisha had the insight and the intelligence.”

Even those with almost no knowledge of Shakespeare can name “Romeo and Juliet,” whose creation historians place somewhere in the late 16th century. Its basic plot has been used in various media for centuries, and its title is synonymous with a love story.

“This is definitely one of the plays where the audience can say the lines with you, so we can’t paraphrase,” Koski said. “It’s the one that people come up with expectations for, and they’ve already seen other versions that they’re going to compare us to.”

Carroll said the show’s reputation was daunting.

“One of my greatest fears in taking this on is that everyone has a preconception because everyone knows the story,” she said. “That’s definitely problematic.”

Eventually, Carroll added, she learned to use that to her advantage.

“But since they know the story, we don’t have to worry quite as much about being sure every single word gets across. But we can move it along, tell a good story and make it visually fun,” she said.

Even though it has a highly recognized title, Genesius Guild has presented the show only twice in its 52-year history, in 1973 and ‘83.

Koski and Ragheb said they are trying to make the recognizable title roles their own.

“Just like any piece of music, if a certain symphony plays a piece you’ve heard before, it’s going to sound different,” said Ragheb, who is going to major in music at St. Olaf. “But you’re going to like it anyway.”

“You just find a way to play the character your way,” Koski said. “Luckily, we’re going to have different people throwing different stuff at us, which will allow us to create our characters without having to worry about the audience and their perception.”

Michael King, who ended up being cast as Mercutio, constructed a set that resembles London’s famed Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays debuted.

“It’s workable on many numbers of levels,” Carroll said.

The cast and the set have caused Carroll to change her directing style, she said.

“I’m usually a very controlling, very choreographed director,” she said. “I’m trying to step back from that and let them develop. I feel good about that, and that’s making everyone else feel good about that, too.

“They’re creating.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: “Romeo and Juliet” by the Genesius Guild

When: 8 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, July 19-20 and 26-27

Where: Lincoln Park theater, Rock Island

How much: Free, with donations accepted

Information: (309) 788-7113 or www.genesius.org on the Web

Plus: A 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 25 performance will be specifically for area high schoolers, followed by a question-and-answer session