WHEREFORE ART THOU?—Rankin Dean, left, and Hollis Dohr as the star-crossed lovers in Conejo Players’“Romeo and Juliet.” Courtesy photo
The story of Romeo and Juliet is so profound, the idea of star-crossed lovers has become synonymous with the meaning of romantic love.
The Conejo Players Artist Theatre will bring the world premiere of an original adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” for a limited 2-weekend run Sept. 8 to 17 at the theater, 351 S. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks.
Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
The timeless story is filled with heartfelt love and passion as the young lovers and their families are placed in the small town of Verona, Mississippi, in 1935.
There, the lyricism of Shakespeare’s language explodes over the gloom of the Great Depression.
Along the way audiences will meet the show’s colorful, complex and sometimes flawed characters in a story that is as relevant today as it was in 1596.
Portraying the young couple are two young talents new to the CPT stage: Hollis Dohr as Juliet and Rankin Deans as Romeo.
Director Patrick McMinn has seeped the show in 1930s Big Band music along with an original score of Mississippi Delta Blues music written expressly for the production.
“I’ve never been interested in taking a script and directing it in a predictable way. Romeo and Juliet offered the opportunity to take a classic that almost everyone had seen or read and bring to it to life in a bold, fresh fashion,” said McMinn.
“Staying true to Shakespeare’s storyline, I wanted to reimagine the elements of time, location, characters and even the ending, feeling that what audiences need today is a healthy dose of optimism and hope for new beginnings. The Great Depression in the South proved a perfect backdrop for that vision,”
For tickets or more information, go to conejoplayers.org or call the box office at (805) 495-3715.