Word: juliets
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...heroine of the play is surely the most captivating one Shakespeare ever created. And every actress wants a crack at the part at some time in her career. The American Shakespeare Festival is lucky to be enjoying the services of Inga Swenson; her Juliet is by far the greatest asset of this production, and, indeed, the finest Juliet I have ever seen...
...sure, Miss Swenson does not give us precisely the Juliet that the playwright intended: a nymphet not yet quite fourteen years old. But this is a Juliet we shall probably never see, until perhaps someone revives Shakespeare's practice of having his heroines played by young boys. Miss Swenson is, I should guess, twice Juliet's age; yet she gives us a Juliet who is clearly a teenager, and that is in itself a rare achievement. She underscores the impression with occasional youthful bits of business, such as tossing her breviary up in the air and catching it again...
...within him, though. His diction is clear. He has no trouble making Romeo young enough--and young he must be: Romeo matures a little during the play's course, but he never does become a man. At present, however, Easton's Romeo is not enough in love--either with Juliet or with the words he speaks...
Still, the famous Balcony scene is wholly enchanting, both aurally and visually. It is night, of course; and for Romeo and Juliet, as for Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, night is blissful and day abhorrent. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" As Juliet turns on her bedroom light, the odylic moment is underlined by some light tracery on a flute. Juliet appears in a white nightgown, sinks on her knees, spreads her elbows on the balcony to support her head, and lets the light catch her soft, blond tresses--all girlishly, but never awkwardly. The rest...
...supporting roles represent different attitudes towards love and marriage. Of these the best-drawn are Friar Laurence and the Nurse; but their portrayals, by Hiram Sherman and Aline MacMahon, fall short. Morris Carnovsky as Capulet and Nancy Wickwire as his Lady are both commendable; Capulet's denunciation of Juliet is particularly forceful...