“All real living is meeting.” In I and Thou (1920) Jewish theologian and philosopher Martin Buber identifies two distinct modes in which we interact with the world around us: in a relationship of “I-It” or “I-Thou.” Most of the time, we exist, by necessity, in a state of I-It, the world and others held separate from ourselves, to be engaged with at the level of transaction. Every now and then, it is possible to enter into a state of I-Thou, to be fully present with our whole selves, in complete and perfect relation to the world, to another, to God. These are moments of miracle or grace, of dropping into a state of flow. This is love in its simplest, most profound sense, precious and inevitably fleeting. *
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From early on in our process, Walter De Maria’s The Lightning Field has been a touchstone for us. This sprawling piece of land art in the high desert of New Mexico is made out of 400 stainless steel rods arranged in a large grid, all spaced 220 feet apart. Each rod comes to an identical, pointed tip, all at the same height, each equally ready to be struck, should lightning come. These points stand ready, waiting for a miraculous and cataclysmic jolt of electricity. *
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In the fall of 1592, plague broke out in London. By even the most conservative estimates, roughly 10% of the city’s population died over the next two years, as the theaters sat empty. Romeo and Juliet was one of the first plays, maybe the first play, to be performed at The Theatre in Shoreditch after it reopened in 1594. The audience must have been full of people who had lost someone, lost friends and foes, neighbors and acquaintances, parents and children. In Romeo and Juliet—and Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris—they didn’t see iconic roles, they saw young people (those most likely to have died of plague) and the institutions of
ROMEO AND JULIET
Church, State, and Patriarchy that proved themselves again and again incapable of protecting their children. They were meeting these characters on stage for the first time. They were meeting themselves anew.
—Lily Haje, Production Dramaturg
View The Lightning Field:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/92912701@N07/sets/72157632978689248/with/8486718845/
SHAKESPEARE REPERTORY PROJECTS | 2021–22 SEASON