Romeo and Juliet Crosses Gender This Month in LPT’S “Swear not by the Moon”
SWEAR NOT BY THE MOON is a re-envisioning of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet through the gender lens.
More than just a mere reiteration of the love story component of the plot, this approach to the classic drama highlights the play’s discourse of gender representations, reversals, and dynamics in an attempt to challenge, dissect, reimagine, and reconfigure the spectrum of masculinity and femininity as implied in Shakespeare’s text.
This re-imagining by the Langgam Performance Troupe (LPT), assembles an ensemble of four actors (two females and two males) to take on the 27+ roles required by the play, creating a more intimate performance atmosphere. A twist in the set- up also required Romeo to be played by a female actor, and Juliet to be played by a male actor, in order to go deeper into the complex gender reversal of the main characters.
The ensemble also employs the use of a neutral mask through a shaved head or shortened hair, which allows them to arrive at an empty and unbiased state of mind, aiding them to change into complete, distinct, and nuanced personas. Given the aforementioned demands, the outcome of swear not by the moon does not resemble a typical, formal restaging of Shakespearean theater. Instead, it results to a highly engaging piece of physical theater.
SWEAR NOT BY THE MOON will run from January 22-24, 2015 at Nursia – Institute of Women’s Studies located at 931 Estrada Street, Malate, Manila.
Below are the schedule of performances:
Jan 22 (Fri) 6:30-9:30 PM
Jan 23 (Sat) 1:00-4:10 PM and 6:30-9:40 PM
Jan 24 (Sun) 1:00-4:10 PM and 6:30-9:40 PM
For tickets, contact Ms. Gaya Dela Rosa at 09773288309.
Click here for a summarized version of the show.
For more information about what’s happening in the Manila theater scene, please view our Theater Calendar.
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