Romeo & Juliet [Delacorte Theater] – 03 June 2026

Under the stars of the Delacorte Theater, a new pair of star crossed lovers emerges to grapple with an all two familiar familial grievance. Romeo & Juliet, the first chosen offering for this year‘s free Shakespeare in the Park experience, is reimagined near the Mexican border. Partially in English and partially in Spanish, the play is a whirlwind of emotion in which life and death are tenuously close, yet somehow the possibilities feel endless.

This show boasts a very talented, insightful cast that rolls with the punches, even when the concept slips a little. Francis Jue (Friar Lawrence)‘s commitment to the success of the show, not just his role, is visible and commendable. In a role that people rarely think much of, Jue definitely facilitates what feels like a conversation with the audience about well intended people who end up doing harm. Ra’mya Latiah Aikens (Juliet) played up the teenage aspect of Juliet’s personality, and I felt like I was seeing Juliet clearly for the first time – not as a brave adult making a lifetime commitment, but as a petulant child, complaining and whining, and making ill thought-out, headstrong decisions. Rachel Crowl’s moment as the apothecary was surprisingly stunning in all the right ways. This is a scene that is often cut from productions of Romeo & Juliet because it feels tedious and adds little. Not so with Crowl. Crowl comes as an out-of-this-world mercenary of death, creating questions and unease with the audience hanging on every word. And, of course, Deirdre O’Connell is quite memorable as the haggard nurse. In As You Like It, Shakespeare describes an infant as, “mewling and puking in the nurses arms“. Juliet and her nurse seem to have the opposite relationship. The nurse is always vomiting drivel and Juliet is the one with her life in her arms.

There was one element of the concept that had me stymied, that I must confess pulled my focus from the performance at times. The Montagues disrupt the peace with messages of “tear down this wall” and “abolish ICE“. If the Capulets are truly to be rivals, does this make Juliet’s family in favor of ICE deportations and brutality? If so, how can they possibly be “two households both alike in dignity” if one of the household stands against human dignity? I was profoundly troubled by these implications. I grappled with what audiences were meant to take from that periodically as I was watching the performance.

The design elements of the Delacorte never failed to amaze me. I particularly loved the two marble statues of life and death watching over the set (Maruti Evans). The lighting (Christopher Akerlind) played with shadows and truly made these sculptures feel more like spiritual presence than works of art. They were majestic, serene, and poised. Oana Botez’s costumes, particularly those for the ball, were over the top and all the right ways. Sound (Mike Tracey) was clear and powerful, decisively telling us what to listen to. There’s one directorial (Saheem Ali) choice that I found puzzling. Juliet’s death by dagger was cut. (pardon my pun), and she died from kissing the poison off of Romeo‘s lips, which, in the text, isn’t possible. And thinking about it after, I see no reason to keep or to cut Juliet’s “happy dagger” moment. Shortening the death sequence perhaps renews the play’s seminal messages about the importance of life and living.

Romeo & Juliet at the Delacorte is a lovely summer offering and thought-provoking way to enjoy a reimagined classic. Revisiting a familiar story in an unfamiliar context is one of the best elements you can count on from the Public Theater summer seasons, and I cherish this version as a worthy endeavor and true theatrical experience.

I attended this performance on a press pass from the Public Theater.