Age

In Elizabethan times, it was quite normal to have a 16 year old playing a 16 year old. Today, I think that when professional productions are so focused on having an advanced actor in every role, casting an adult as a teenager can cause the show to suffer. Judi Dench played Perdita in 1969…she was 35 years old! I am sure that she did a fine job at the acting, but there is just a quality of youth and innocence that disappears after one has had a few years to experiment with success, substances, and sex. I can understand not wanting to pull a couple of 11th graders into a cast where the next youngest person may be in their late 20s, but one has to think about the nature of the relationships as written.

Have you ever seen a kid start their first high school romance? My little sister had her first “real” boyfriend at the end of 10th grade, and it was all holding hands, hugging, telling each other how beautiful they were, doing homework together—it was one of the cutest, sappiest things ever, full of doe-eyes and big, genuine smiles. THAT is how Perdita and Florizel should behave toward each other. At 24, I know that I have had too many relationships to be able to properly communicate those strong, first-love feelings that they have toward each other.

When I was Assistant Director for Romeo & Juliet 2 summers ago, our Romeo and Benvolio were 17 and our Juliet was not yet 16. We had the option of casting a 20 year old Juliet, who was technically the better actress, but there was just something behind her eyes that was sullied and jaded. It was true that the production suffered from their lack of experience, but it was so magical to watch them bond with each other and come of age through their roles.

One of the most vile things that I ever experienced in regard to Shakespeare was when my 10th grade English teacher made us watch an ancient black and white video of Julius Caesar and listen to it on an old scratched record because “high schoolers don’t know how to read Shakespeare.” While I knew that I was ahead of the curve (having read Macbeth when I was 11), I also knew that if he had just let us try, we would have figured it out. It wouldn’t have been beautiful, but we would have owned our experience.

I am holding invited auditions for the roles of Perdita, Mamillius, and Florizel. The only people I invited are teenagers who I have worked with before. As a director, it is my responsibility to do better than was done for me and nurture the young actors who enjoy Shakespeare. I received a lovely note from an invitee’s mother: “Thanks for believing in Danny, and for giving him chances to improve his skills!” All of the bad reviews in the world could not quench the knowledge that I am trying to be faithful to the text and trying to improve my theatre community.