Director Sharone Halevy Talks New Play Romeo/Juliet (AUDIO)

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with director Sharone Halevy about Romeo/Juliet the daring new LGBTQ+ adaptation of the classic play Romeo and Juliet premiering Off-Broadway at Metro Baptist Church in NYC from August 24th through September 9th. The play stars Juliette Gobin and Aigner Mizzelle as the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet who span across the LGBTQ and non-binary spectrum in this loving recalibration of Shakespeare's eternal classic. Romeo/Juliet puts front and center the pratfalls, perils, pressures, pleasures and pains of growing up into our bodies, our beliefs and our sexuality. Seen wholly through the eyes of its star-crossed lovers Romeo/Juliet whittles Shakespeare's text into a tender and tragic celebration of youth and an exploration of how we define desire in a world bound by chains of faith, family, media and privilege asking what we honor most, where we came from or who we are. The cast also features Issa Best, Jac Ford, Jessica Fraser, Walker Harrison, Chris Murray, Cashton Tate Rehklau, Nick Sanchez and Hermon Whaley. This new adaption by Hailey Bachrach and Matt Minnicino is produced by Laura Elliott, costume designer Heather Barton, lighting designer Steven Spera, set designer Jacqueline Brockel and fight director Tate Rehklau. We talked to Sharone about what she hopes to accomplish with Romeo/Juliet and as a fierce LGBTQ ally her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked how she sees our LGBTQ community or any minority moving forward in this Trump administration Halevy stated, “I’ve been thinking about this a lot especially working on this play and working with actors who are on a wide spectrum inside the community and just seeing so much fear coming out right now. I think the thing that was really so amazing during the Obama administration was that there was so much more understanding coming out and they were such beautiful leaders in terms of what it was to be accepting and to look at a community as a whole and to support one another. Right now the scary thing is the Trump administration is doing the same thing but at the opposite end of the spectrum. I hope that any minority or any part of the LGBTQ community is going to really come together and I think we’re all going to go through something that’s a bit harder for a while but moving forward staying strong and making sure our allies, and if you’re an ally like me, we stand up for one another. I can only do what I’m doing right now creating theater and trying to get people to understand things and keep nudging and keep kind of tittling away at the ideas of that weird word norm.”

Sharone Halevy is an NYC based director, teacher and painter who has worked all over New York from Chekhov to developing new works. She has worked for theater companies including INTAR, Crashbox, Distilled Theater Co., WAT Project, Playwright Horizons Theater School, Exquisite Corpse Company, NYU: Atlantic Theater Company Conservatory, The York, NYMF, Musical Theater Factory, Rockwood Music Hall, Atlantic Farm Team and more. She has also assistant directed at the Roundabout Theater Company, Waterwell Inc., The Atlantic Theater Company and the Public. She currently teaches at Playwrights Horizons: NYU as well as the Professional Performing Arts High School. Romeo/Juliet will be performed at Metro Baptist Church at 410 W 40th St, New York, NY August 24th thru September 9th.
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