A classic with a capital C

—  Romeo and Juliet is probably the play that has stayed with me the longest. It was the second play I performed in as a child in amateur theater. Back then, I played Romeo’s father, while my brother, who is three years older than me, played Romeo, explains actor Elias Moussaoui Anseth. 

He recalls seeing Romeo and Juliet in several versions, but he remembers one production in particular very well.  

“I saw it at Det Norske Teatret when I was in high school. That experience was quite pivotal in my life, because that was when I decided to become an actor. In that sense, *Romeo and Juliet* means an incredible amount to me, ” explains the actor.  

Now he is looking forward to diving back into the play as part of the cast in Kilden’s production. 

— Even though I know how this story ends, there’s something about *Romeo and Juliet* that makes me get swept up in it and feel emotionally affected by the outcome every time I read it.

He’s probably not the only one who has a close connection to the play. Romeo and Juliet is, after all, one of poet William Shakespeare’s most famous works and a timeless classic. It was written sometime between 1591 and 1595, relatively early in the British playwright William Shakespeare’s career, and was an immediate success.  

Bring the text to life

To stage the play, we will once again be joined by the renowned director Laurent Chétouane. Kilden’s resident actor Henrik Rafaelsen is very much looking forward to working with the French director and believes that a director with his ear for language is especially important when working with Shakespeare.

—  T“The language is so rich, and beautiful, and full of imagery—yes, it’s very rich. And that’s something Laurent is very good at, and very interested in,” says actor Henrik Rafaelsen.  

Henrik goes on to explain that not all directors dare to stage Romeo and Juliet, but that Laurent is known for his unique ability to bring the text to life.

—  There are many actors who want to work with Laurent, because it’s a bit like going back to drama school. He makes you learn something about yourself, both as a person and as an actor. He has an incredible ear for languages—he speaks about six languages fluently, and he’s learning Arabic now, he explains.  

— Romeo and Juliet is important to us humans

“Love”, “pimpossible love,” and “iinnocent and naive love” are some of the answers we get when we ask the actors what they’re thinking about rightwhen we say Romeo and Juliet. The romance between them is overwhelming, intense, and eternal—and canseem a bit naive and superficial. But it bears the mark of the time in which it was written, and touches emotions that people throughout the ages have known.  

—   I think Romeo and Juliet is important to us humans, because it shows us that it’s possible to believe in love. They fall in love very quickly and promise each other everything in a very short time. And that’s so naive, and so young. But I think it’s important to believe that love is possible. That’s what matters most, after all, says actor Fredrik Høstaker.

Lives on in endless interpretations

—  My relationship with Romeo and Juliet is strongly influenced by the 1990s film starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. There’s something about the way they manage to use Shakespeare’s text so naturally and so authentically, explains Fredrik.  

He’s probably not the only one who knows the play through other interpretations and art forms. Romeo and Juliet have become archetypes for lovers on opposite sides of a conflict. That in itself has been an endless source of inspiration for countless adaptations.

There have been new interpretations and adaptations in theater; it has inspired new musical expressions and been adapted into films, paintings, and other art forms. Not many works are fortunate enough to live on in this way and continually reach new generations around the world. Some of our actors have also performed in new, unique interpretations of the play;  

“I’ve performed *Romeo and Juliet* twice before, in two very different versions. The first time it was like a clown show, and it was a blast, ” says actress Ann Ingrid Fuglestveit.

—  And I actually did it not too many years ago, back then as a puppet show. I played Julie—with a puppet. This time we don’t know much, but at least I haven’t heard anything about us being puppets or clowns. So I’m incredibly excited! 

Actress Ragnhild Meling Enoksen has previously performed in a different interpretation of the play;  

— In my second year at the Theater Academy, we staged a post-apocalyptic version of *Romeo and Juliet*. It was exciting! It’s been seven years now, so it will be interesting to see what it’s like to do it again with this ensemble, in this collaborative format—and in the world we live in today, Ragnhildwonders .  

—  Something we worked on there, and something I’m still striving for, is to experience the entire play without focusing too much on who you are and what you’re supposed to say. I think it’s especially important in this play that we find a collective way to share the text with the audience, he explains.  

"Romeo and Juliet"opensat Kilden on February Kilden and will run for one month on the main stage.