Shakespeare’s R&J
by Joe Calarco
Directed by Chad Brinkman
Antigone
by Lulu Raczka
Directed by Zoë Peterson
January 22-February 13, 2027 (see ticket link below for specific dates of each production)
NEW TIME: All performances at 7:30 PM
In Repertory This Season
Two ancient stories. Two rebellions. One unforgettable double bill.
Rules can be broken. Hearts will be. What are you willing to risk for love — or for what’s right?
This season, we place two works in conversation that span millennia and genres, yet burn with the same urgent question: what happens when the young refuse to obey?
Shakespeare’s R&J
The rules said study Latin. The rules said lights out. The rules said nothing about Romeo and Juliet.
At a rigid all-male boarding school, four boys are governed by bells, schedules, and the Ten Commandments. But after curfew, one of them produces a contraband copy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — and what begins as a forbidden thrill quickly becomes something none of them bargained for.
As the boys take turns voicing the play’s doomed lovers, the boundaries between performance and reality begin to dissolve. Shakespeare’s words — written for another age — find new urgency, new tenderness, and new danger in these four young bodies. What starts as play-acting turns into something real, something terrifying, something beautiful.
What begins as a rebellious laugh soon turns into something more violent. Thrust into the reality of the Bard’s words, the parallels between their lives and Shakespeare’s doomed lovers begin to reveal themselves. Reading Rep
Joe Calarco’s Lucille Lortel Award–winning adaptation is a landmark of American theater — inventive, emotionally shattering, and unlike any Romeo and Juliet you’ve ever seen.
“Right up there with West Side Story when it comes to originality, sexiness, and daring.” — The Telegraph (UK)
“A superb version that will open your eyes and ears to the piece as if you were experiencing it with unjaded wonder for the first time.” — The Independent (UK)
“A beautifully crafted queer retelling — truly a masterclass in storytelling and audience engagement.” — Broadway World
Antigone
The war is over. The dead are buried. Everyone is ready to move on. Everyone except Antigone.
Two sisters. One impossible choice. And a law that says the wrong person must go unburied, unmourned, forgotten.
The war is over. The dead have been buried. The traitors have been punished. People feel more alive than they have in a long time. They are ready to start again. But Antigone is not. She will not move on, and she will not forget. She will drag everyone back if she has to.
In Lulu Raczka’s bold reimagining of Sophocles’ ancient tragedy, Antigone and her younger sister Ismene are teenagers — funny, reckless, and achingly real — navigating grief, loyalty, and the terrifying gap between knowing what’s right and being able to do it. The conflict is not between Antigone and Creon, but between two sisters faced with an unthinkable family rupture.
Raczka’s searing adaptation hands the reins to the young women at its heart, creating something messy, irreverent, and vital.
“A resounding shot in the dark.” — The Guardian
Why Repertory?
These two plays were made to be seen together.
In Shakespeare’s R&J, four boys discover love through Shakespeare’s words — and find that the story they’re performing is also the story they’re living. In Antigone, two sisters face the law, the state, and each other — and find that love is the only thing worth dying for.
Both plays place young people in worlds with rigid rules. Both ask what it costs to defy them. And both remind us that the oldest stories we have are still the most dangerous ones.
See one. See both. Special pricing if you see both shows!
Cast/Crew List:
- CAST (in order of appearance):
- TBA
- PRODUCTION TEAM
- Katie Ruwe – Stage Manager
- Corinne Felt – Costumes
- Faith Von Handorf – Props