The Show must go on!

The famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet
Photos: Natascha Sekerinski (taschphotography.com)

By Nadine Dawson

On a warm September evening, The Company of Adventurers returned to Old Ottawa South, performing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to jubilant cries of Bravo! Bravo!

To pass through the curtained passageways alongside the home of Cynthia Sugars and Paul Keen is to step into a world of storytelling magic. Beneath trees and grapevines and the twinkling of lights, young actors step upon the stage and begin to spin the familiar tale of velvet love and sword-fighting revenge, of laughter and loss and redemption.

Seated snugly and amiably together, the audience is soon drawn into the yearning and rivalry of long-ago Verona – in this version, the English Montagues and the French Capulets. The actors belie their age, slipping easily from language to language, poetry to song, from delight to despair, as they explore the play’s nuances. There is an energy to the performance, a visual richness to the costumes and a visceral experience in the outdoor setting that quickens the senses.

Love is born anew this evening when Romeo meets Juliet. Theirs is a time out of time that shimmers with joy. Affection spills out of the Nurse and playfulness tipples the atmosphere, but the light-hearted comedy cannot hold. Innocence is forever lost when Romeo slays Tybalt to avenge his friend – and the very air sizzles with their hot-blooded action. Grief tumbles out of the young lovers, now torn apart, rippling through the night. When Capulet commands his daughter to marry the insipid Paris, rage ricochets off the stars.

And so we sit, rapt, by turns in laughter and joy, disbelief and longing, and throughout, hopelessly in love with a Universe that has conspired to set us down here, now, amid these fine, fine storytellers.

Nothing can mar this moment – not the resident cat who strides amid the spectators, feathered prize in its mouth, and certainly not the neighbour whose music bounds over the fence in an ironic echo of the play’s feuding theme. Who would sabotage the cultural offering of children? When people are turned away at the door because the house is sold out, when pedestrians can be overheard discussing Balthasar on the streets of Old Ottawa South of a Sunday afternoon, when neighbours rally to the defence of backyard theatre because the City of Ottawa has laid bylaw charges, then this much is sure: The Company of Adventurers is a beloved part of the community and we are rendered all the richer by its presence amongst us.

And so, we, the people, thank you, The Company of Adventurers, for bringing Shakespeare to our streets. Thank you Cynthia and Paul for your resilience, your generosity of spirit, and your creative vision that connects us all more closely. Thank you to the young people who devoted their time and talents to this stunning production of Romeo and Juliet that we might be entertained once again in style. Thank you to those people in the many supporting roles and especially to The Gladstone Theatre for their generous donation of space, all of which assured the show must go on!

Of course, live theatre draws its life-sustaining energy from us, the audience. Many local charities over the years have benefitted from the pass-the-hat donations at the end of the shows. Moreover, by slipping beneath the curtained archway and suspending our disbelief, we not only support the dreams of young actors but also encourage the proliferation of the arts with its unique capacity to deepen our understanding of human nature and its many foibles, and show us visions of our best selves. We need this reminder that life is sweet, not despite its complexities, but rather because of them.

Nadine Dawson is an artist and former teacher who lives in Old Ottawa South. She is the author of Lavender, Longing, Love; A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Memoir.