With its latest production, Lincoln’s Flatwater Shakespeare Company puts an unexpected spin on one of the most popular plays ever written.
“Shakespeare gets a mohawk in this raw and rebellious take on Romeo and Juliet,” the company’s website states. The production sets the action “in a gritty, guitar-fueled world where love and rage collide.”
The play, staged at The Stables at Wyuka Cemetery, runs through Aug. 17. Assistant Professor of Theatre Ryan Kathman directs a cast and crew brimming with Nebraska Wesleyan alumni, students and faculty.
Kathman said the cast of 17 features seven punked-out P-Wolves:
- Faculty: Scott Shomaker, instructor of theatre, as Mercutio
- Current students: Ben Arenz (Benvolio), Hannah Whitson (Abram) and Weston Jinks (Paris and Sampson)
- Alumni: Will Phillips (Montague and the apothecary), Steavie Hergenrader-Reed (Lady Capulet) and Michael Pritchett-Madden (Tybalt)
The Nebraska Wesleyan connections run just as strong behind the scenes. In addition to Kathman as director, the crew includes:
- Carter Fangmeyer, administrative assistant, as assistant director
- Lily Larsen as assistant stage manager
- Jake Myers as stage manager
- Charlie Anderson as makeup and hair designer
- Cartney McGuigan as intimacy coordinator
- Elizabeth Ennis as costume designer
Theatergoers can expect star-crossed lovers as well as “live punk rock played by actors along with exciting switchblade battles and duels,” Kathman said. “It’s a great example of local professional theatre that our students, alumni and faculty are creating together during their summer breaks.”