William Shakespeare�s "Romeo and Juliet," one of the most famous love stories of all time, will be performed by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on March 2-4 and 8-10.

This lyrical and tragic romance will be staged in Jenkins Theatre beginning on Friday, March 2, at 8 p.m. Shows will be offered at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 and Thursday through Saturday, March 8-10, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 4.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for youth. UWSP students may purchase tickets for $4.50 or receive them free the day of the show if seats are still available. Tickets may be purchased at the University Box Office located at 200 Division Street, by calling (715) 346-4100 or (800) 838-3378 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu. MasterCard, Visa and Discover are accepted.

"Our production is a lavish recreation of 1475 Verona during the Italian Renaissance," says Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Steve Trovillion Smith, who is directing the play. "If you want to see Shakespeare done in period, this is your chance."

While the play follows the romance of two young people, there are elements of adult sexuality involved, says Smith, and the show is recommended for mature audiences.

The well-known story is set in the Italian city-state of Verona, where two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, have a long-standing feud. One night, at a ball thrown by the Capulets, Romeo Montague (Anthony Kaehny, Oconomowoc) meets Juliet Capulet (Amanda Ellis, Oostburg) and they fall in love. Their passionate relationship is doomed by the antagonism between the two houses and the lack of understanding between parent and child, propelling the pair to a tragic conclusion.

"Ultimately this is a play about passion," Smith said, "which can be beautiful and romantic as well as angry and violent."

The 31-student cast has risen to the challenge of Shakespearian theatre and its heightened language, emotion, stage combat, music and dance, he added. "There is a beauty and complexity to the language of the play," he said. "So before we began staging it, we translated the text. If the actors understand their words, so will the audience."

The two leads, Kaehny and Ellis, know each other well and trust each other, said Smith. "These are draining and emotionally demanding roles, yet they are doing a great job of balancing rehearsals, school and their own lives."

The set resembles an Elizabethan thrust-like stage, with a two-story building that represents the varied locales of the story and uses lighting and sound to create different scenes.

Costume designer Susan Sherwin, associate professor of theatre and dance, has clothed the women cast members in tight bodices, empire waists, long flowing skirts and slippers and the men in tight doublets with footed, colored hose. "The period was all about showing off fabrics and there were no buttons, so everything is laced and tied," she said.

One of her classes created all the men�s hats for the show, while the women cast members wear veils, pearls and other decorations in their hair. "Of course the men all wear daggers and rapiers on their belts," she said.

H. Russ Brown, an assistant professor of theatre and dance and specialist in stage combat, choreographed the shows� many sword and dagger fight scenes. The students must create the allusion of violence, he said, by working together and emphasizing both safety and dramatic storytelling. "The students love this work because its so outside the norm of what they do. It�s exciting and adventuresome."

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