By John Quinn
"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."
The story was already old even before Shakespeare penned his prologue. It was old when Ovid recounted the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. Human nature being what it is, the story may have been told around primeval campfires, and our remote ancestors mourned a Romeo Cro-Magnon and Juliette Neanderthal. Artists continue to draw inspiration from the roots; it has inspired American musicals as diverse as "West Side Story" and "The Fantasticks."
The Matrix Theatre Company opens its 20th season with a revival of its original drama "Southwest Story." Almost 20 years ago, Matrix founder Wesley Nethercott and residents of Southwest Detroit assembled. Over a period of eight months, they drew inspiration from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and the Bernstein-Laurents musical "West Side Story" to re-tell the classic tale in the context of modern Detroit. The script has been reworked by current Matrix theater students to make the play as timely as the iPhone 4S.
On a busy street in Southwest Detroit stands the Missionary Baptist Church, led by the Reverend Mr. Turner (Bernard Causey). Across the street is the Nunez family's convenience store, where Raul Nunez (Maurizio Rosas-Dominguez) and his wife, Maria (Miranda Tully), are finally turning a profit after obtaining a liquor license. Reverend Turner objects to booze being sold to the local street people; Nunez asserts he's only trying to make a living. The feud develops a mean streak.
Young Andrae Turner (Damon Whitman) is coaxed by his pals into crashing a local girl's 15th birthday party, the "Quinceanera" of Latino tradition. Little does he know it's Christina Nunez's (Maria Romo) party, or that he would fall in love at first sight. That uninvited appearance infuriates Christina's hot-headed cousin Tomas (Justino Solis). Thus rancor poisons another generation. Since "Southwest Story" parallels its source material closely, we know there's tragedy coming.
Although we anticipate the plot, "Southwest Story" has a few really clever innovations. Some are very funny – Andrea is betrayed in the darkness under Christina's balcony by his ringing cell phone. But a big comic twist occurs in changing Shakespeare's Friar Laurence to the addled former flower-child, Sister Rice. A women living in her own little world, it is her well-meaning missteps that guide the lovers to their fates. Rubelhia Aleman plays this unique character; as a member of the Matrix Teen Company, she may have had a big part in its evolution. And did I mention that Aleman is 17?
That brings up a fundamental point in how to view this show. I have never experienced "Romeo and Juliette" played by so young a cast. Like the intrepid teen actors in the Meadow Brook Theatre production of "Something Wicked This Way Comes," a tremendous responsibility falls on artists still learning their craft. How can one ask an actor to draw on past experience to flesh out the emotional context of a character when he or she is so new to experience in general? It is fortunate that the Matrix has Damon Whitman and Maria Romo in the lead roles. There is a touching innocence in their portrayals that buoys the production.
There is one hang-up: I find the second act drags. It might benefit from some judicious pruning – or could the first scene, second act be moved into the first act?
Intolerance is a fundamental instinct of a pack animal. "See the stranger, fear the stranger, hate the stranger, kill the stranger." Can humanity rise above the animal and actually achieve tolerance? Watching a multi-cultural Matrix teen company unite to produce a work of art is an experience best described by poet Alexander Pope: "Hope springs eternal in the human breast."
REVIEW:
'Southwest Story'
Matrix Theatre at Boll Family YMCA Theater, 1401 Broadway St., Detroit. Friday-Sunday through Nov. 13. $20. 313-967-0999. http://www.matrixtheatre.org
