A Cast Member’s Perspective of NEXTstage Rep’s Romeo & Juliet 

Everyone knows the play, Romeo and Juliet. Everyone knows how it ends. But, does everyone know it from the perspective of a cast member?

I played the role of Balthazar in the NEXTstage Production of  Romeo and Juliet, and it was an experience that yielded (mainly) a positive outcome. 

Togetherness in the Ensemble 

For instance, the sense of ensemble was present throughout the entire play. 

You could tell that the cast was having fun throughout the whole experience, even when the play turned outright grim. 

I could feel the energy that went across the stage, just bouncing off each of the cast members, pushing each other to commit to each role.

My Role as Balthazar

Then, there was the character work. (This bit was a little difficult on my end.) 

I had some trouble figuring out my character for a multitude of reasons. For one, I had trouble connecting to Balthazar, meaning I had trouble finding myself in the character. 

How would he react? How would he say things? 

But, someone gave me a piece of advice that stuck with me: “React the way you would, not Balthazar, YOU.” That is when it clicked. I figured out that I wasn’t an extension of the character, the character was an extension of me. 

After that, everything clicked. Every scene I was in felt more natural because I reacted like I would. 

My Fellow Cast Members

My character work wasn’t just impressive. I would say that every other cast member was just as admirable in their own regards.

Chris Rice

One person whose character work impressed me was Chris Rice. Chris Rice played Tybalt in the play, and he was amazing. His character is one of the hardest to play, and he pulled it off flawlessly, in my opinion.

I must say, I majorly enjoyed the scene just before the big fight between Mercutio and Tybalt. It was fantastic.

When Mercutio put the knife next to Tybalt’s ear, it sent shivers down my spine. Then, when Tybalt turned around, Tybalt’s face was one of pure rage and disgust. I genuinely felt fear during that scene.

Danny Paternina

The way that Danny Paternina played Romeo as he talked to Tybalt stuck out to me, as well. 

He talked like Tybalt was an old friend whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. I thought that was genius considering the context of the situation. 

At the end of the play, I must say, I enjoyed doing the last scene between Romeo and Balthazar. I always got a little emotional during that scene. Specifically, when Romeo hands Balthazar the necklace which Romeo wears. That scene hits very hard, especially the last hug between Balthazar and Romeo. That hug was an “I’m never going to see you again, am I?” hug.  The pain and devastation in that hug rang through the theater. 

I also feel that Romeo’s death always holds a strong place in the play, but this version was different. The way Romeo said, “With a kiss, I die”, I believe he realized that Juliet was alive just as he died. That is a heart-wrenching thing to add to the play and I loved it.

Stage Combat

Another amazing aspect of the show was the stage combat. The action in the show was flawless, and you could tell we put practice into each fight. 

The opening brawl was one of the best fights. (Of course, this opinion is slightly biased because I was in it.) 

It was exhilarating. The flow of the stage combat felt like a dance. Granted, we had small knives, but it was still an experience. Then, to have Lord Capulet and Montague suddenly appear and begin fighting with broadswords was incredible.

Set Design

Another portion of the play I felt was rather good was the set of the play itself. There is something about a simplistic set that makes a play more believable. What I mean is that, since there is nothing else on stage to “distract” the audience, the audience pays more attention to the performance. 

It was also pretty impressive to find out that the balcony was able to come apart, especially since that part of it breaking off was because a man was being thrown into it. 

I also enjoyed the use of the aisles during the production. It added extra play space for the actors to work, rather than confining the stage. 

Costuming

The costumes for Romeo and Juliet, I felt, both worked and didn’t work. 

It worked because it was very comfortable for the actors. The black shirts not only helped the production because of the ending, but it was rather inexpensive, too. 

I also enjoyed the colored shirts underneath the black clothing to determine who was Capulet and who was Montague. 

However, I feel like there was too much black. The show would have benefitted from a splash of more color. But, the technical side of the production helped balance that.

Final Thoughts

All in all, this production of Romeo and Juliet was an overall success. My fellow actors and I poured our hearts and souls into this production of this classic play, and it showed. 

The emotion I felt from each of them was not only genuine, but it was a reflection on how they interpreted their character. To add to that, the infectious positive energy felt from each of my castmates, fueled the drive to perform better each night.