Gang life draws fresh blood from 'Romeo and Juliet'

BY FIONA SOLTES

FOR THE TENNESSEAN

Barry Scott's heart is filled with the pure passion of

As a result, the theater veteran, in a new production beginning July 24, hopes to present Shakespeare's classic tragedy as a call for peace, redemption and deliverance.

Setting the piece among the Crips and Bloods of African-American street gangs but keeping the original language, Scott moves the tale of the lovers doomed by consequence from bawdy teenage comedy to heart-stirring romance. He allows "some liberty" so the work will "really smack of being in the ghetto," but all the same, it's only "fun up to a point."

"This inspiration has been brewing and brewing," Scott said. "First, I'm excited to tell a story about people falling in love at first sight. I don't get that in a lot of productions, but Shakespeare clearly states it. These two are star-crossed lovers. And it's as if he used these lovers to quell the feud between the two families. How powerful if someone could use this in what's happening in the black community.

"We have a lot of young people who have died as a result of gang violence, and even random bullets hitting people without discrimination. But the loss of life still hasn't made anyone say we should reconsider this feuding. If we can show Romeo and Juliet as affable, and loveable, and black, maybe people will look at Romeo and see their cousin or brother, or look at Juliet and see their friend."

Scott, who directs the piece for Tennessee State University's Summer Stock Theatre, said he received some discontent from students wanting him to urbanize the language for the production.

"Some of the younger ones have been a little intimidated," he said. "But there's so much inside the language of Shakespeare. It defines the problems more, even better than contemporary language does. Sometimes I find our contemporary language leaves me wondering, 'What did that really mean?' It's not precise.

"Whereas with Shakespeare, he introduced words that even the people during his day didn't know. He gave people the opportunity to speak in ways that created metaphor and double entendre, and better conveyed ideas. . . . Maybe it's just me, but being in love with words, being in love with Shakespeare and being in love with theater, I find myself left short by people's communication, particularly in the black community. I hear people saying, 'See what I'm saying?' And I want to say, 'No.' I really do understand, but I want them to better be able to express themselves. We expose so little in modern language, but Shakespeare exposes it all. He opens the door to words."

Celeste M. Cooper, who takes on the role of Juliet, admits the piece has been a challenge — but not as much as she had originally imagined.

"The emotions are the same, even if the language isn't," the TSU senior theater major said. "I'd never done Shakespeare before, and I didn't realize how similar these characters would be to everyday people."

The cast as a whole is multiracial, rather than all African-American, and Cooper said she's excited about the thought-provoking Q&A sessions Scott has planned for after the performances. He's particularly interested in the topic of black-on-black violence but will carefully facilitate the conversations to be solutions-focused rather than simple finger pointing.

And in the meantime, Scott said, he's hoping people will "really enjoy seeing these young people on stage."

"I'm having so much fun working with them on this that I'm rediscovering my joy," he said. "I may be up to my neck, but I'm not afraid. I was born for this."