Written by Emma Duchesneau
“I defy you, stars!” While the young star-crossed lovers may think they are the sculptors of their fate, this production of Romeo and Juliet brings astronomy to the forefront.
What started as a shared love for the play between two students at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute blossomed into a fully fledged production of the piece. This Pan-Asian interpretation of the show was inspired by its two leads, Emily Nunes and Venkatesh Vohra, who wanted a modern adaptation that reflected both their European and South Asian backgrounds. Nunes and Vohra met during their 1-Year and 2-Year Conservatory training, respectively, at The Institute. They were united by their love of Shakespeare, which was fostered by their mentors Jacqueline Jacobus and Geoffrey Horne, who have been a great source of guidance and inspiration during the rehearsal process.
Alumni-Faculty Collaboration
The pair was inspired after Vohra was assigned one of Romeo’s speeches in Jacobus’s class. He was apprehensive at first, having strayed away from roles that had to do with love or romance. But as Vohra began to work on the role, he discovered that he was not as unlike Romeo as he initially thought. Seeing his transformation into the role, Nunes approached him about doing a scene from the play for class, which unfortunately never came to fruition due to a lack of time.
This did not stop them, as they began developing a production of the play outside of class. They knew they wanted to approach their teacher and in-house Shakespeare expert, Geoffrey Horne. They sought his advice not only on the play but also the production side, since Horne is a co-founder of the theatre company Shakespeare Downtown. He worked with the pair, coaching them in class, suggesting different translations to read, and providing insight on production.
A New Interpretation
The Pan-Asian backdrop of this production stemmed from the actors themselves who wanted to highlight their diverse backgrounds. “It’s really popular these days to do blind casting, which we didn’t want to do. We wanted to make it very specific to the world we are building,” Nunes emphasized. In this production, the Montagues are all South Asian and all the Capulets are White European. Vohra went further to discuss the need for both households to be alike in dignity and to be inspired by Pan-Asian countries like Singapore, where wealthy South Asian and White families live together. Vohra highlights the importance of this interpretation as it “showcase[s] Asian and South Asian people in Shakespeare, which have been ghosted for the longest time.”
Further tonal inspiration for this production came from an article Nunes had shared with Vohra. The article examined how alchemy and astronomy are the driving forces in this story. The Capulets are moon-driven people, the Montagues are sun-driven, and even Mercutio is representative of Mercy. This production will delve into exploring the family’s relationship to the stars, the moon, and the larger universe.
Using the Training
As alums of The Institute, Nunes and Vohra have found themselves relying on their training throughout the rehearsal process. Their director, Emily Allan has emphasized impulse work throughout rehearsals, which works in conjunction with the actors’ Method Acting training. The pair felt prepared knowing they could walk away from their time at LSTFI with a toolbox of techniques.
Nunes described how a sense of place and substitution, especially with the speeches, has been a big support for her in this show. While Vohra explained, “I don’t have to plan anything, I don’t have to think about anything, things sort of emerge out of me when I need them to be, and that’s what I find the most powerful thing about the method.” The two also remarked how a The Institute’s workshop with Sergei Tcherkasski on the Stanislavsky System was a game changer for their acting. They have implemented techniques such as the “Magic If” into their performances.
The Production
Audience members can look forward to the balance of comedy, love, and heartbreak in this upcoming production. Nunes says her favorite moment is the opening scene that builds this world. It showcases the characters and the “actors are really who the characters are” as well as being “really funny too!”
When asked to describe the show in 3 words or less, here were the two leads’ responses: “Passion, Alchemy, Divinity,” said Nunes, and “Love, Devotion, and Passion,” said Vohra.
This piece feels potent now as the “Play is about hate [and] love, and the time we are living now where the world is so divided, just like the two households, love is the only thing that can bring them together, and that is why the story is so important now than ever” says Vohra.
The production will take place at The Sheen Center Frank Shiner Theatre from June 12th-15th, 2025.