Modern spin, old story

TOVA G. KORNFELD

William Shakespeare wrote a beautiful but tragic love story and called it Romeo and Juliet. Its theme of forbidden love resonates with modern-day audiences as much as it did with the Elizabethan crowd. Since it was written in 1595, it has spawned countless adaptations, including the musical West Side Story, the 1968 Franco Zeferelli film and the recent animated feature Gnomeo and Juliet. In Israel, there has even been a Palestinian-girl-meets-Israeli-boy version. Now, a group of energetic young thespians are bringing the story into the 21st century, as set against the backdrop of a Vancouver Eastside/Westside divide, titled The Verona Project, playing at Pacific Theatre June 29-July 2.

Susan Coodin plays Juliet. Born and raised in Vancouver, Coodin has had the acting bug from an early age. Her parents enrolled her in the Jewish Young People’s Theatre at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture when she was eight. She spent five years there. She went on to attend Lord Byng High School, obtained a bachelor’s in English literature at the University of British Columbia and graduated from Studio 58 at Langara College. Since graduating in 2008, she has snagged roles in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and Steel Magnolias and worked with top local directors, including Nicola Cavendish, Dean Paul Gibson and Anthony Holland, the founder of Studio 58. When not acting, she supports herself by being a “nanny on call” and an instructor of creative drama at Arts Umbrella.

Coodin is passionate in her praise for The Verona Project and her co-actors. “Evan Frayne, the director, engineered the project from idea to performance stage, but with input from us all. It is a condensed version of the original that focuses less on the love story and more on the tragedy and the community’s responsibility for that tragedy. Our idea was to make it very simple, very pure, just about ordinary people and how their stories unfold. It could be anywhere, any town,” she told the Independent.

Most of us know the story of Romeo and Juliet, two “star-crossed lovers,” and we know the tragic end. Coodin said of the eponymous pair, “They did not have to die, their love was so innocent. He was 17, she just 13. If they just would have been left alone, they probably could have made it but, with the family and community interference, they were doomed.”

Contemporizing the story includes localizing the setting and characters. “We are setting it in modern-day Vancouver, with the Montagues being portrayed as shabbily attired, gruffy Eastside denizens versus the private club, upper-middle-class Kerrisdale Capulets. It is the portrayal of a class struggle that impacts upon the innocence of youth, but it is also reflective of the tension between social and family identity (one’s name) and one’s inner identity,” Coodin explained.

People should see the show, Coodin said, because “it is a youthful, energetic, relevant adaptation of a classic story played out by very talented actors that will make people laugh and cry. Hopefully, people will be able to identify with some aspect of the story. Often, Shakespeare is presented as far removed from our day-to-day lives and the language is not how we speak. With a modern-day setting in our own city, I think that this play will touch people in a way they may never have been touched before. I have this beautiful love scene with Aslam Husain who plays Romeo – and is just terrific in the role – and I cried during the rehearsal because it was such a joy to work with language that allowed me to show my emotions. We also have original music composed by musical director Mishelle Cuttler [featured in “A link in the chain,” Jewish Independent, March 18], which compliments our vision of the show. It has been a labor of love for all of us and I am proud to be associated with the project.” In terms of whether the play stays true to the original, she stated, “Although we have condensed it, the fundamentals remain: the fights, the ball, the balcony, the deaths and the ultimate reconciliation of two families brought together in grief.”

In regards to the impact of community, Coodin admitted that she has a Jewish soul. “Although only my father is Jewish and, on paper, I am technically not Jewish, I have been part of the community since I was young. I am proud that I can identify with a Jewishness that manifests itself in the tone of my performances. That has been influenced by my father’s stories of his childhood as one of seven children in a North End Winnipeg home. I have been exposed to all of the Jewish holidays through my father’s family and have also spent a lot of time in Montreal, where one of my best summer jobs ever was working at a kosher bakery, Cheskie’s, where I learned to really appreciate the taste of rugelach and cheesecake.”

The show has a limited four-day run. Tickets are $11.50 in advance or pay-what-you-can at the door. Reservations are available by calling 604-731-5518.

Tova G. Kornfeld is a local writer and lawyer.

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