Arlington, Mass. -
In “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers, Romeo avenges the death of his friend, Mercutio, by slaying his killer, Tybalt, a desperate act which propels the play toward its tragic conclusion. In “West Side Story,” Bernstein and Sondheim’s updated, musical version of the story, a similar pivotal fight occurs: Riff (Mercutio), leader of the Jets gang, is slain by Bernardo (Tybalt), leader of the Sharks, a rival gang. Then Riff’s best friend, Tony (Romeo), goes after Bernardo, jeopardizing his own future with Bernardo’s sister, Maria (Juliet).
In Arlington Children’s Theatre’s recent production of “Romeo and Juliet,” the roles of comrades Romeo and Mercutio were played by Graham Techler and Miles Allen, respectively, but in this summer’s production of “West Side Story,” the same actors play Riff and Bernardo, mortal enemies. In reality, Graham, who lives in West Newton, and Miles, of Arlington, are best friends. They met during A.C.T.’s production of “Damn Yankees,” in 2006, and have been close friends ever since.
Asked how their friendship affects their acting, they agreed that being friends makes it easier to portray both friends and enemies. “You can use the energy of the friendship to energize the acting,” said Graham. Miles concurred, adding “It’s easier to pick up acting energy from each other on stage.”
Both of them felt that fight scenes were easier to play with someone you knew and cared about. In “Romeo and Juliet,” Mercutio challenges Tybalt on behalf of his friend; after Mercutio is killed, Romeo’s grief and guilt drive him to kill Tybalt. Miles pointed out that these motivations could be better understood and more effectively portrayed because of the real friendship between the actors.
The fight scenes with each other in “West Side Story” benefit even more directly from the friendship. It’s easier to stage a fight if you know the other person well. As Graham put it, “I’m a lot more comfortable jumping on Miles’s back or having him stab me than if it were someone I didn’t know that well.”
Graham and Miles will appear in one of two complete casts performing “West Side Story.” In all, close to 100 children and teenagers, from 21 area towns, are involved in the production, which will be presented in Arlington’s Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, from August 1 to August 9. Reserved seating tickets are $15, available at http://act.arlington.ma.us/shows/#Ads, or at the Regent box office.
