By: Matthew Seeger, Talon Staff
Tallahassee Community College’s Turner Auditorium hosted a unique adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by the Southern Shakespeare Company called “A Town Divided,” last Friday.
The play reimagined the classic feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, but unlike Shakespeare’s play, where the reason behind the feud is never explained, this one is very clear-cut across lines of class and race – a white teenager from the wealthier north side of Tallahassee meets a black girl from the poorer south side at a performance of Shakespeare in the Park in Cascades Park, where they fall in love.
The political overtones, particularly the ones about prejudice, intolerance and racial profiling, were woven into the story. That was by design, says Laura Johnson, Executive Director of the Southern Shakespeare Company.
“As one of the most segregated cities in the nation, it is difficult to ignore the racial divide in our own city,” said Johnson. “The idea of creating an original production, loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, as a way to raise social awareness and affect change in our city was a challenge we were excited about.”
The sentiment about tackling segregation was also touched on by the play’s director, Phillip Croton.
“I think the issue we’re raising here, the racial divide, is fairly clear-cut,” said Croton. “The population split is fairly equal, but the standard of life in Killearn is very different from the standard of life on Orange Avenue.”
Croton explains that authenticity was important to the writing and production team. Much of the experiences expressed in the characters’ dialogue were based on accounts given by local Tallahassee residents.
“To make it real, rather than just a cliché sort of ‘West-Side-Story-without-the-songs’ version, we asked Tallahassee to send stories of life in Tallahassee, particularly the interracial problems that they’d encountered,” said Croton. “We had six brave souls who came forward and were interviewed, who told us the experiences that they had, and we tried to use those stories as a thread in our narrative.”
Providing the company with Turner Auditorium as a venue to perform in wasn’t the only way TCC lent its assistance. Johnson says the school also played a pivotal role in providing further insight into the play’s social issues from many of the campus’ organizations and nonprofits.
“We couldn’t have done it without the invaluable support from the Office of the President, the TCC Foundation, and Black Male Achievers, for their student volunteers AND support, and the Diversity and Inclusion Council,” said Johnson.
Following the performance on Friday was “A Town United,” a presentation of sonnets written by students from four area high schools, about their lives in the capital city. The concept was created by Devon Glover, better known as “Sonnet Man,” in conjunction with Phillip Croton, Godby High School English/Drama teacher Randi Lundgren and Leon High School teacher Lea Marshall. Sonnet-writing workshops at Chiles, Godby, Mcclay and Rickards were led by Glover, and five outstanding young authors were selected to perform their sonnets on stage.
The Southern Shakespeare Company has several more events planned for their 2017-18 season, leading up to their yearly “Shakespeare in the Park” performance, with guest artist Reneè O’Connor (best known for her role as Gabrielle on the hit TV show, Xena: Warrior Princess), which is set for May 10 – 13.
