By Zack Meyer
The first time I performed in R&J was the first time Unrehearsed performed it in 2007. I hadn’t read it by that point and the only version I had seen was the Baz Luhrmann film almost a decade earlier (which I mostly slept through). This was only my second time performing in the Unrehearsed style and I was cast as Romeo. I felt fairly confident because I was a hotshot 20 year old and didn’t know any better.
One of the main aspects in prepping to perform in an Unrehearsed show is that you don’t read the play. You rely on the director to give you tools to survive the battle and when the day comes, you charge into the fray.
As I was working with Bill Kincaid on my text session, I noticed scenes (and only my side of them) that I didn’t remember in the movie. Bill kept saying things like, “You don’t know about this scene? Oh, well you’re going to have fun.” He seemed to enjoy the fact that he was working with a relatively blank slate for such a well-known show.
My confidence rapidly started to wane. My insecurities with the style, knowledge of Shakespeare, and performing raged through my head and heart the longer my text session took.
How am I supposed to perform such an iconic role in a show that I, apparently, don’t know at all?! Everyone remotely involved in Theatre knows this show by heart. How had I gotten to my third year of pursuing a college degree in Theatre and let this one slip by?
I brought it up to Bill that I was overwhelmed and nervous to take this role on while feeling so unprepared. He gave me a piece of advice that keeps ringing true the more I perform.
“Trust the text”
Initially, I was livid. It felt like it was a throw away. I wanted the “OK” to secretly read the play and watch the movie so I could brush up on things. I wanted to know what was going to happen to me. I wanted to know the other side of the arguments from my track. But I decided to trust Bill and the text.
I ran my scroll so many times that I burned through 2 pairs of rubber bands.
The day came. We had beautiful weather at the barn compared to the day before but I was sweating bullets. We learned our rehearsed segments and fights. Insecurities ran through my head like, “Why the hell do I fight Danny if he’s not Tybalt?! Am I missing a scene?!”
The audience piled in and Bill took the stage. He gave his normal speech at the beginning promoting our sponsors and explaining what we do.
As Bill was coming to the end I threw up a prayer, triple checked that my scroll was rolled to the beginning, reminded myself to trust the text and “without further ado, Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” We’re off!
It felt like I was in a pinball machine. Characters were bouncing off each other. Bouncing off of what I’m saying and vice versa. The first scene felt like a blur but slowly the text started locking in with itself. My lines started to make sense when they aligned with the other tracks. The banter back and forth made sense. The musicality of R&J’s sonnet when they first meet finally made sense. We were all one unit. We may have been 16 separate actors but we had come together that day to put on 1 play. We all had a puzzle piece to contribute.
The show ended and we all felt utterly exhausted but satisfied with what we had just created. Looking back on it, I realized what a great piece of advice Bill had given to me, but it was missing an important piece. “Trust the text and trust your cast-mates”.
Now, as the director of this Unrehearsed production of R&J, I can give the same advice that got me through the first. In Unrehearsed, no one is an island even if you’re the only one who doesn’t know the play.
