The Bard writes a tale for our day

AFTER seeing First Stage's production of "Rock 'n' Role Shakespeare," you may look at Shakespeare's works differently.

Shakespeare may seem like something for adults, but, in this musical, lines from Shakespeare plays and the influence of a mysterious fan of Shakespeare help a teenage garage band become more successful than it had ever expected to be.

The play takes place in your typical junk-filled garage. Tony, a young man, walks in, picks up his guitar and strikes a chord. He pretends that he is being interviewed by MTV. The play revolves around his dreams for his band.

Humor and the story make the play cool, but so does the music, which can be classified as alternative rock. Toward the end of the play, the band actually stops debating what they will or will not be and create an awesome song, "To Be Or Not to Be." After that, there is a beautiful duet, "Sleep," by Tony and Miranda and a final song that helps them succeed, "Oh, Brave New World."

The play has modern sets and language, but it also has bits from Shakespeare's plays. The characters are overcome by a strange force that makes them act out parts of the plays.

These little bits of plays are a lot like modern soap operas, with quarrelling lovers, murder and romance. There is an exciting sword fight and the famous scene where Juliet calls out from her balcony window to her beloved Romeo.

Carol Johnson does a wonderful job of portraying the dark, mysterious and wise character, Ariel, a cloaked figure who appears at the garage. The character intimidated by Ariel, Tony, is played by Stephan A. Roselin. He does a very good job of playing the play's least-likable character.

Most kids probably will especially like the characters of Cal, played by Robb Smith, and Gonzo, played by Mark Salentine. They are the play's funniest characters but probably not the smartest guys you have ever encountered. Their two favorite sayings are without a doubt, "Dude" and "No way!"

Unlike most First Stage productions, all the roles in "Rock 'n' Role Shakespeare" are played by adults. The play is recommended for kids 12 or older, but my 7-year-old brother and 10- year-old sister enjoyed it, too.

Even if you normally don't go for plays having to do with Shakespeare, this is definitely one you'll enjoy.

Six more public performances are scheduled for the Todd Wehr Theater of the Performing Arts Center 1 and 3:30 p.m. this Sunday, jan 29 Feb. 5 and Feb. 11.

Copyright 1995
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