Word: mercutio
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...pair of star crossed puppies, as they are in the Quincy House production, one may coo at their love scenes and pity them when they die, but they can inspire no greater emotion than puppies do. Life goes out of the play when its one full blooded character, Mercutio, dies, and we are left with what is at best a pretty little play, one that merely hints at tragedy...
...Mercutio, who bears the weight of the play upon his shoulders, is played by John Parker. He makes a valiant try, perhaps too valiant, for most of his energy seems undirected and wasted. And something must be done about his braying, villainous laugh. I know that rough edges are inevitable in a production cast almost entirely from one House but it is nonetheless a pity that one of them had to be Benvolio (Donald Scharfe). His announcement of Mercutio's death, one of the play's most poignant moments, he turns into a moment of near comedy. "Mercutio is dead...
...author's second attempt at tragedy, the play is at times literarily self-conscious and structurally too obvious in its symmetrical balance. Every idea has its complement: love vs. hate, day vs. night, patience vs. impetuosity, chastity vs. bawdry, and so on. Every character has its foil: Romeo and Mercutio, Juliet and Roasline, Benvolio and Tybalt, Friar Laurence and the Nurse. If it is not a supreme achievement, it is still a great play; and let us be thankful we have...
...biggest disappointment is the Mercutio of William Smithers, who has proven himself a good actor elsewhere. Here he is a total failure; and much of the blame must fall on director Landau. Not for nothing does Mercutio share five letters with Mercury; but there is nothing mercurial about Smithers' performance. Mercutio is an airy, sparkling, zestful, witty chap; Smithers is none of these. Too bad, for the role is so rich that it bids fair to top that of Romeo himself--wherefore Shakespeare had to kill him off on two counts...
...Mercutio did Shakespeare give the celebrated Queen Mab speech, one of the great virtuoso arias in the language. Smithers delivers this faery monologue in a slow, sloppy, slovenly manner, with no heed to what he is saying, when the speech should be, in Mercutio's own words, "as thin of substance...