My Bounty is as boundless as the Sea,
My Love as deep. The more I give to thee
The more I have, for both are Infinite”
Juliet
Advice To The Players
presents William Shakespeare’s
I believe the only way to approach Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet is with careful and appreciative
curiosity, humility, and profound willingness
to learn, what this most extraordinary of
playwrights has somehow discovered and is
desperate to share. I believe the comrades in
our production have treasured the opportunity
to discover with each other, the piercing – even personally confronting – insights
that Shakespeare offers concerning the false idols of honor and its opposite, shame.
But more than this, the wealth of surprising insight he offers into the nature of
Love, and proposes for its opposite, not hate, but Fear. Over and over again,
Shakespeare articulates how Fear – not hate, or even the traditional interpretation
of this play, Fate (as the opening Chorus would have us believe) – is the enemy of
Love. This is a most dangerous theme with which to wrestle, as we are all susceptible
to the overwhelmingly powerful, ‘real world’ experiences of Fear – in all its mortal
manifestations – and suspicious of, nearly incapable of ever truly believing, the divine
and immortal truth of Love.
If Shakespeare had written only one play, this one would have made his reputation for
all time. It might then be studied with even more care and appreciation, be performed
more often and more urgently than it currently is – and it currently is – in every
language and country in the world. We can hardly protest ignorance of the story.
It’s an old story that has been appropriated, repeated and imitated with variations
in countless stories and poems for hundreds of years, screenplays, even pop and
country/western songs in our time. And even then, should we not know of it, the
Chorus gives us the plot and reveals the unhappy ending before the play starts. So
why would Shakespeare ‘give it away’ so casually? I believe he found something more
deep and more essentially important in the story, wanted to explore and articulate
that, and didn’t want the witnesses in the audience to be distracted with the ‘what
next?’ and thereby miss the ‘how come?’.
This rehearsal process has been both a wonderful and harrowing adventure, and I am
deeply grateful to Becca and the Board for this invitation. I particularly want to thank
Candace Clift for her wisdom and insight – and organization – that got us further
into the heart of the play than we could otherwise have gotten. The production and
management teams have been nothing but hard working, thoughtful and generous
with their time and support. The actors, nothing but that dream-team combination
of playfulness, willingness and courage. Advice To The Players is a community treasure.
I am proud to have been welcomed as a part of it.
- Kevin G. Coleman
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Romeo & Juliet
March ~ April 2015
romeo And JulieT
William Shakespeare’s
romeo And JulieT
is a production of Advice To The Players
cAsT
PRODUCTION STAFF
House of Escalus:
Prince Escalus – Prince of Verona
Paris – Suitor to Juliet
Mercutio – Kinsman to the Prince
Valentine – Page to Paris
The Watchman
Eben Brown
Hayden T. Stearns
Gary DuBreuil
Silas Peirce
Lee Stockman
House of Capulet:
Lord Capulet – Juliet’s father
Lady Capulet – Juliet’s mother
Juliet – The Capulets’ only child and heir
Nurse – Juliet’s nanny
Tybalt – Juliet’s cousin
Sampson – a querulous servant
Gregory – a cautious servant
Peter – an illiterate servant
Audrey ⎫
⎫
Angela ⎬
⎬ kitchen wenches
⎭
Arianna ⎭
Richard Moses
Candace Clift*
Angela Smith*
Caroline Nesbitt*
Josh Nungesser
Lee Stockman
Frederick Bickford
Lauren Hansen
Lea Thelemarck
Abigail Dearth
Madeline Moneypenny
House of Montague:
Lord Montague – Romeo’s father
Lady Montague – Romeo’s mother
Romeo - The Montagues’ only child and heir
Benvolio – Romeo’s cousin and friend
Balthasar – Romeo’s dedicated servant
Abraham – an irascible servant
Friar Lawrence - confidant to Romeo
Friar John - a Franciscan friar
The Town
Dennis Sullivan
Martha Nichols
Andrew Codispoti
Rowan Heard
Marianna Palladino
Sandy Trask
Robert Bates*
Lee Stockman
There will be one 10-minute intermission. Refreshments will be served!
Donations are greatly appreciated.
*Appears by arrangement with Actor’s Equity Association,
the union of professional actors and Stage Managers.
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Director
Kevin G. Coleman
Assistant Director
Candace Clift
Producer
Rebecca Boyden
Production Stage Manager
Abbie Cameron
Assistant Stage Manager
Gary DuBreuil
Lighting Design & Production Manager
Juliana Beecher
Fight Captain
Lee Stockman
Production Design & Costume Construction
Carolyn Boldt
Fight Choreography
Lee Stockman & Kevin G. Coleman
Dance Choreography
Candace Clift & Richard Moses
Set Construction
Will Cabell, Abbie Cameron, Gary DuBreuil
Richard Moses, Lee Stockman,
Marketing & Publicity
Rebecca Boyden, Ashley Kerr
Teaching Artists
Candace Clift, Andrew Codispoti
Sharon Paquette, Angela Smith
Box Office & Refreshments
Jo Bickford, Jan Goldman
Webmaster
Andrew Codispoti
Button Meister
Leo Goldman
Company Photographers
Duane Dale
Monika O’Clair
Poster Design
Janina Lamb
romeo And JulieT is sponsored by
Doran Independent Insurance, Bank of New Hampshire
and the Tamworth Foundation
and is supported in part by
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
A Special Thanks to:
Ginger Heard, Geoffrey Cunningham, Larkin Kjellberg, Diana Levy, Lisa
Thompson, Carl Hansen, Tony & Betsy Leiper, Don & Wendy Sutton, Mike
Henriques & Betsy Paine, Shakespeare & Company, The Corner House Inn,
Ken Martin and M&D Productions, everyone at the Sandwich Town Hall and
our wonderful Board of Trustees.
Please patronize our advertisers. They support us!!
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