STAGE REVIEW : ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a Play With 2 Tellings

Comparisons in theater aren’t odious: They’re enlightening. Consider the two productions of “Romeo and Juliet” that opened over the weekend, one in San Diego and one in Garden Grove. Each is an outdoor staging and each takes a traditional approach to the material. But, oh, what a difference.

At the Old Globe Theatre (director: Richard E. T. White), we get a respectful mounting of a “great play.” At the Grove Shakespeare Festival (director: Jules Aaron), we get an urgent telling of a wonderful story.

The first difference is the design. At the Old Globe, the idea is to give us a picture of a real Italian square at high noon--which, with a pull of a curtain, can become a real balcony at midnight. It is, as they say, as good as a movie. (Steven Rubin designed both the settings and costumes, and Robert Peterson did the painterly lighting.)

Compare the paltry look of the Garden Grove production: the unfurnished set (by D. Martyn Bookwalter), the flimsy costumes (by Dwight Richard Odle), the generalized lighting (by David Palmer). Aside from the odd central element used for Juliet’s balcony--it looks like a corkscrew crossed with a crow’s nest--there’s nothing to look at but the actors.

Which means that the actors can’t consider themselves figures in a landscape. They have to come out and sell the play. And they do. This isn’t the subtlest production of “Romeo and Juliet” that you’ll ever see, but it’s in touch with the play’s energy sources in a way that the San Diego production isn’t. All the play’s channels are open, not just the woeful ones.

That’s ironic, because it’s the San Diego production that works harder at the details: at suggesting that Juliet’s parents (Mike Genovese and Ellen Crawford) haven’t slept together for years, for example, or that Romeo’s cousin Benvolio (Albert Farrar) isn’t much of a swordsman.

Time gets lost in these little touches, however. The Garden Grove production makes its own points but makes them on the wing. When Friar Laurence (Harry Woolf) says farewell to Romeo (David Anthony Smith), a slight pause before his last “goodby” is enough to convey how much he’s going to miss him. The idea is to convey the suddenness of love and death, not to linger on subsidiary insights.

The play therefore seems much shorter and more clearly focused than in San Diego, although its running time is only 15 minutes less. Tempo isn’t the only reason. Aaron’s cast bites into the text with appreciation, as if they would rather be speaking Shakespeare than anything else. White’s San Diego actors speak correctly, but they don’t celebrate the language. Only Ken Ruta (Friar Laurence) and Mitchell Edmonds (Montague) account for every single word.

At the center of the play are Romeo and Juliet. In San Diego, Jon Tenney makes a good beginning, but doesn’t sufficiently distinguish between the character’s early lovesickness for Rosaline (Martha Perantoni) and his later bonding with Juliet. He needs to go deeper, while Monique Fowler needs to explore Juliet’s vivacity, temper and intelligence. The major theme of her performance at the moment is that Juliet is suffering from emotions too large to be expressed. This is the way poignancy is conveyed on the soaps. It won’t do for three hours.

Compare Susan Doupe’s Juliet at Garden Grove, a delicate girl who believes in seizing the moment. She is eager to love, both because Romeo (David Anthony Smith) has captured her heart and because it’s something of a prank of her parents (Larry Franklin and Pam Fisher). And in the tomb scene she is ready to die. Without lacking lyricism, this Juliet avoids the customary mooning around. She knows exactly what she’s feeling.

Smith’s Romeo may be a bit of a twit, but he does suggest a young aristocrat, well trained at the fencing academy, and a man of feeling. He’s sincerely concerned when Mercutio (John Walcutt) gets so carried away with his language that he almost falls into a fit. (Michael Cerveris’ Mercutio at the Old Globe keeps both feet on the ground at all times.) This Romeo cares, and we can care with him.

In short, the play works at one venue, and works much less well at the other. Leaving the Old Globe, you wonder if you haven’t seen it too often. Leaving the Grove, it’s a new play again, filled with possibilities. Shakespeare is a genius or a drone, depending on his helpers.

Plays at Garden Grove Thursdays through Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Closes July 15. 12852 Main St. (714) 636-7213.

Plays at San Diego Tuesdays through Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Closes July 30. Simon Edison Center for the Performing Arts, Balboa Park. (619) 239-2255. ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’

Shakespeare’s tragedy, at the Grove Shakespeare Festival. Director Jules Aaron. Scene design D. Martyn Bookwalter. Lighting David Palmer. Costumes Dwight Richard Odle. Sound Gary Christensen. Makeup and hair design Barbara Matthews. Original music Chuck Estes. Dramaturgy Greg Itzin. Fight choreography Erik Fredricksen. Stage manager David Shack. With Rick Tigert, Erik Van Beuzekom, James Calleri, Louis Esposito, Steve Wikoff, Mark Ciglar, Tom Juarez, Daniel Bryan Cartmell, Pam Franklin, Larry Fisher, Julie Terrell, Russ Terry, David Anthony Smith, Philip Thompson, Carl Palmer, Bonnie Bowers, Susan Doupe, John Walcutt, Harry Woolf, Meredith Woodson, Eddie Rivera, Stefane Zamorano, Brian Hickman, Sylvia Biller and Jane Spignarelli.

‘ROMEO AND JULIET’

Shakespeare’s tragedy, at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego. Director Richard E.T. White. Scenic and costume designer Steven Rubin. Lighting designer Robert Peterson. Composer Conrad Susa. Fight director Michael Cawelti. Choreographer Bonnie Johnston. Sound Jim Ragland. Dramaturg Mark Hofflund. Stage manager Robert Drake. With Robert Phalen, Michael Cerveris, Ben Ketcham, Mark Guin, Hugh McCann, Mitchell Edmonds, Elizabeth Terry, John Tenney, Albert Farrar, Sterling Macer Jr., Richard Ortega, Mike Genovese, Ellen Crawford, Monique Fowler, Henry Godinez, Bill Bookston, Dana Pere, Martha Perantoni, Hilary James, Karen Vesper, Linda Hoy, Blaise Messinger, Richard Soto, Matthew Edwards, Kavin Fabian, Barry Mann, M. Susan Peck, Laura Rearwin, Ken Ruta, Matthew Edwards and ensemble.