When it was announced that Rebecca J. Ennals would be directing "Romeo and Juliet" at this year's Free Shakespeare in the Park show, the first thing people began to ask her was, "What are you going to do with the concept of the show?" And she would tell them, "I don't know, but I know that there are going to be swords! Because I am so tired of 'Romeo and Juliet' with knives and guns, and people punching each other!"
Her conception of "Romeo and Juliet" is being presented this summer by the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, which has been bringing free theater to Bay Area parks for 33 years. Yes, gasp-inducing swordfights are featured, and much more. Ennals is SF Shakes' artistic director, and she believes, "The thing about doing Shakespeare is that there's always subversion going on. 'Romeo and Juliet' is perceived by people as the ultimate heterosexual love story. But no matter how heteronormative it may seem, we have to remember that it was originally performed by all men."
"R&J" has been touring Bay Area parks since June, and will begin a five-weekend run in SF on August 29. Everyone is welcome to bring a blanket, sit on the grass, and see how Ennals was able to "find the relevance from the subversion in Shakespeare today. It's not necessarily that you're doing it with an all-male cast," she said, "but that you're doing it in ways that upset people's perceptions."
One of those ways, Ennals explained, was to cast across gender roles. "We have women play some of the male roles. Of course it's about finding the best actor. But I cast proactively to make sure women and actors of color have opportunities, and our casting makes people think."
She cast Carla Pantoja, who played Kate in last year's SF Shakes production of Taming of the Shrew, as the aggressive swordsman Tybalt. Ennals directed her in Shrew, and said, "She is one of the most accomplished combatants in the Bay Area. She teaches stage combat, she choreographs, and she co-runs a company called Dueling Arts. She kind of said to me, 'Tybalt's my dream role,' and I said, 'I can't think of a better fighter.'"
The reactions from the record crowds attending so far this summer have been overwhelmingly positive. Ennals said that no one has come up to her and asked, "'Why is a woman playing that part?' No one has even mentioned it. Audiences are so smart. And if you say, 'This is a guy,' they go, 'Okay.' "
SF Shakes is closing the summer season with a free staged reading of "Sonnets for W.H.," a play that Ennals wrote herself. The idea for it began back when she was in grad school. "I was reading the sonnets and started doing some research about them. And if you read the sonnets it seems infinitely clear that Shakespeare, the writer of the sonnets, was in love with a young man. And that, for some reason, the culture was liberal enough to allow him to express this in verse as long as maybe they didn't act it out. But based on the sonnets, I think that they acted it out. So I wrote a play about it."
"Sonnets for W.H." is, according to Ennals, an appropriate follow-up to the mainstage show, "partially because of the number of sonnets that are in 'Romeo and Juliet.' " The staged reading will take place at SF Playhouse on Oct. 4, and will feature many of the same cast members.
But before then there will be ample opportunities to see them out of doors. "R&J" will play in San Francisco's Presidio for three weekends, and for those that don't want to pack a picnic on Sundays there will be an Off the Grid food-truck event right next to it on the Main Post Parade Ground Lawn. The final two weekends of the run will play at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McClaren Park on the other side of town, not too far from the Noe Valley and Castro neighborhoods.
Free Shakespeare in the Park is an annual tradition with many SF families, and there are always lots of kids in attendance. Ennals' own first child was born last year during tech rehearsal week for "Taming of the Shrew." He was two months premature, and she's happy to report, "He's very healthy now, and he loves theater! He loves to be around actors, and he loves to go to shows." The boy, named after Henry V, will be there with his family, and Ennals hopes many others will join them to "see this year's show and have a great time!"
"Romeo and Juliet" (free), Sat. & Sun., Aug. 29-Sept. 13, & Labor Day, Sept. 7, in the Presidio; Sept. 19-27 in McClaren Park. Sonnets for W.H. staged reading (free), Oct. 4, SF Playhouse. Info: sfshakes.org