Now that the show has closed, and the edits on the first third of the new novel are done, I can take some time to follow my weeks-old intent and talk a bit about show elements.

    The first I'd like to mention (mostly because I have this gorgeous photo) is Tybalt's ghost. It amazes me that, of the 16 productions I have been a part of and the dozen more I've seen, I'm the only director to make use of these lines from Juliet:

    O, look! methinks I see my cousin's ghost

    Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body

    Upon a rapier's point: stay, Tybalt, stay!

    Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee.

    It seems a wonderful (and obvious) device to have dead Tybalt enter, covered "all in blood, all in gore blood" as the Nurse describes him, and search for Romeo. It is also great motivation for Juliet to drink the Friar's potion, which until that moment she has been talking herself out of doing. This is the second time I've made use of this moment, and it is frightfully creepy, especially in this latest production.

R&J, Act IV, Scene iii – Chuck Dvorak as Tybalt and Stephanie VanAlstine as Juliet. Photo and lighting by Jeromy Hopgood.