I’ve seen plenty of great productions at Alley Theatre, which is probably why their latest rendition of Romeo and Juliet felt like a miss for me.
The acting itself wasn't the issue. The resident company members put in solid performances as always, but the pacing felt heavy and dragged out. Combine that with a late 8:00 PM Wednesday curtain call, and it became a tough sit. The costumes and stage design were great as well.
What really pulled me out of it was the direction. The production tried to force a modern aesthetic onto the story without any real commitment or reason behind it. Scenes jumped back and forth between traditional staging and a random modern timeline, complete with dance breaks set to electronic music. It felt jarring rather than intentional.
